Whats Embodied Energy?
Embodied energy is the amount of energy it takes to manufacture and distribute a product. The energy used to create it is therefore “embodied” in that item. For example, about 50% of the amount of energy a laptop consumes during its lifetime is consumed during manufacturing as the energy required to mine raw materials, process them, assemble the products from the various parts, package them, ship them to distributors and so on. Only a portion of its energy consumption comes from what it draws when you plug it into the wall. That means we need to seriously consider the embodied energy of our products and take a closer look at how much they consume before they even get to our homes. That’s where WattzOn’s EDD database comes into play. Check out what it’s like to input a new product, and find out more about what this tool reveals about the stuff we buy.
