What is potential and actual resources ?
Those resources where we know the total availability of quantity and quality, are called the Actual Resources. These resources have been surveyed, their quality and quantity are determined and are currently in use. The help of advanced technologies is used to dig out these resources. Some examples of these resources are natural oil reserves of the Middle East, the hydroelectric power of Niagara Falls, iron ore deposits of Madhya Pradesh, petroleum and natural gas in West Asia and India’s Mumbai High, dark soils in Deccan plateau and rich coal deposits in Germany.
Those resources which exist in a particular region and can be used in the future are called Potential Resources. Here we do not know the exact quantity and quality of the resource. We need advanced technology to use these resources in future. Some examples are the existence of Mineral Oil is depicted in major parts of India where sedimentary rocks are found but the date it is actually drilled out and put into use, it remains as a potential resource. In the same way, Uranium found in terrains of Ladakh also comes under this category. Almost 200 years back, high-speed winds were recognised as a potential resource, today it is used as an actual resource in wind farms for generating wind energy using windmills in the Netherlands, Nagercoil in Tamilnadu and Gujarat states of the India.