The manufacture of products requires energy, whether it is to make the raw material(s), or to power the manufacturing machines, or in the manufacturing process itself. Even the recycling of the parts requires energy. The energy audit activity is designed to expose the use of energy at every step of making or breaking a product. In this activity, students will use commercial software to determine the energy required to make a plastic water bottle from new plastic, and compare the energy requirement with making a plastic bottle from recycled plastic.
