Not many people around the world have been able to realize that we use energy faster than it can be produced, whether it is coal, oil or natural gas, these things are the most utilized sources, but take years, even millennia to form.

As nations across the world join the cutthroat competition to outpace each other in the name of development, there is a growing need to remember that energy resources that we have today are not unlimited.

With India having approximately one percent of the world's energy resources and 16 percent of the world's population, the need to conserve our energy resources is now being strongly felt.

Nonrenewable energy sources constitute about 80 percent of fuel use in India, and it is said that our energy resources may last only another 40 years or so.

People need to realize that we can save a lot of money when we save or conserve our energy resources.

In India, about 75 percent of our crude oil needs are met through imports which would cost about Rs.1,50,000 crore a year.

The Indian government is adopting various means to create awareness among the general public on ways to save money home through the careful use of energy sources.

Nearly 25,000 megawatt of capacity creation through energy efficiency in the electricity sector alone has been estimated in India. Energy conservation potential for the economy as a whole has been assessed as 23 percent with maximum potential in industrial and agricultural sectors.

Considering the vast potential of energy savings and benefits of energy efficiency, the Government of India enacted the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. The Act provides for the legal framework, institutional arrangement and a regulatory mechanism at the Central and State level to embark upon energy efficiency drive in the country.

Time and again, people are being motivated to save energy with messages like: "Imagine your savings if your LPG cylinder comes for an extra week or there is a cut in your electricity bills. 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 two units of energy produced. Save energy to reduce pollution. It is our duty to conserve today for tomorrow's use."

A majority of people in India is being informed that when they save energy, they not only save money, but also reduce the demand for such fossil fuels as coal, oil, and natural gas.

Less burning of fossil fuels also means lower emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary contributor to global warming and other pollutants.

One such example is an energy conservation park in Andhra Pradesh state. It's been established to propagate benefits of solar energy and its eco-friendly nature.

Tourists and locals in the Kailasagiri area of Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam district throng this park.

Set up jointly by the Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority and the Non-conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NEDCAP), this energy conservation park has been set up on 0.41 acres of land.

Not just that, several programs are being initiated to expand it to a further five acres.

According to the District Manager of NEDCAP, P. V. Rama Raju, solar water heaters, solar cookers, radio, and the use of solar energy for functioning of televisions and lights have been demonstrated in the park. He added that the government is taking every initiative to popularize the use of solar products.

"The government is providing subsidy and also increasing day by day to popularize these items. Since the establishment of the park, so many people, both from rural and urban areas, are visiting our office, and taking these items, and also we are presenting their use in the public and various colleges also," Raju said. Surrounded by green hills and valleys, this park is attracting people from near and far for its picturesque location.

Environmental experts say the government plans to start many missions to conserve energy.

"Solar energy is very expensive, the photovoltaic is very expensive. If you want to bring down the price of generation and the price at which you can give it to the people, you must introduce new technologies, and the technology is available in Europe and in the US, where you can bring down the cost by 30 percent or more," said R. V. Rama Rao, a professor of environmental studies.

Visitors to this special park say a visit to this energy conservation park offers them an opportunity to understand how best to use renewable energy.

"There are so many things to see at this place. I am very happy to visit this place. When I will go back, I will tell other people that I saw things like solar cooker in an energy park in Visakhapatnam," said Sandeep, a visitor from Haryana.

"The earth, water and the air are not a gift to us from our parents but a loan from our children," says an old Indian saying.

How precious and valuable are the earth's myriad resources can be best summed up in the words of Chief Seattle of the American Indian Duwamish tribe. He told the president of America in the 19th century: "Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people. We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. We are part of the earth and it is part of us."

"The earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. This we know - The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web,

he does to himself," he added.

"Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it. Preserve the land for all children and love it, as God loves us all. As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This earth is precious to us. It is also precious to you. One thing we know: there is only one God. No man, be he Red Man or White man, can be apart. We are brothers after all," he said.

For those who do not know Chief Seattle signed the Port Elliott Treaty with the United States in 1855, which ceded American Indian tribal land to what is now the state of Washington. The city of Seattle was named in his honor.