Distinguish between Potential and Developed, Stock and Reserves resources.
- Potential and Developed
| Potential Resources | Developed Resources |
|---|---|
| Resources which are found in a region, but have not been utilised, e.g., Gujarat and Rajasthan have a lot of potential for the development of wind and solar energy, but so far they have not been developed fully. | Resources which are surveyed and their quality and quantity have been determined for utilisation. The development of resources depends on technology and level of their feasibility, e.g., water resources used for hydel power generation or irrigation purposes. |
- Stock and Reserves Resources.
| Stock | Reserves |
|---|---|
| Materials in the environment, which have the potential to satisfy human needs but man does not have the appropriate technology to access them are included among stock, e.g. water is a compound of two inflammable gases : hydrogen and oxygen, which can be used as a rich source of energy. But we do not have the required technical know-how to use them for this purpose. | Reserves are the subset of the stock, which can be put into use with the help of existing technical ‘know-how’ but their full use has been postponed for meeting the future needs, e.g., forest reserves, iron-ore reserves, water in the dams etc. |