The earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs but not every man’s greed, said Gandhiji. Some hard facts on why energy conservation is a must :
- · We use energy faster than it can be produced - Coal, oil and natural gas - the most utilised sources take thousands of years for formation.
- · Energy resources are limited - India has approximately 1% of world’s energy resources but it has 16% of world population.
- · Most of the energy sources we use cannot be reused and renewed - Non renewable energy sources constitute 80% of the fuel use. It is said that our energy resources may last only for another 40 years or so.
- · We save the country a lot of money when we save energy - About 75 per cent of our crude oil needs are met from imports which would cost about Rs. 5.65 lakh crore a year latest data available from oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).
- · We save our money when we save energy - Imagine your savings if your LPG cylinder comes for an extra week or there is a cut in your electricity bills
- · We save our energy when we save energy - When we use fuel wood efficiently, our fuel wood requirements are lower and so is our drudgery for its collection
- · Energy saved is energy generated - When we save one unit of energy, it is equivalent to 2 units of energy produced
- · Save energy to reduce pollution - Energy production and use account to large proportion of air pollution and more than 83 percent of greenhouse gas emissions
- · An old Indian saying describes it this way - The earth, water and the air are not a gift to us from our parents but a loan from our children. Hence we need to make energy conservation a habit.