Question: how much energy is needed to make plastic?
Answer: Using an estimate of 40 million metric tons for U.S. plastics production in 2008 [4,5], the non-feedstock energy used to make plastic has a low estimate of (4.0 x 1010 kg)(3.6 x 107 J/kg) = 1.4 x 1018 J and a high estimate of (4.0 x 1010 kg)(5.4 x 107 J/kg) = 2.2 x 1018 J.