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Edition 2026Active Merit Badge
Energy
Official Requirements & Fillable Workbook · 2026 Edition
Energy powers every aspect of human civilization and the natural environment. You will explore forms of energy and thermodynamic conversions, construct a multi-stage energy conversion system, analyze system efficiency and energy losses, conduct a 14-day home energy audit, investigate energy waste and conservation trade-offs, construct national and global energy data charts, evaluate five advanced energy systems, and research careers in the energy sector.
Key Requirements Covered:
- Forms of Energy & Conservation Laws
- Home Energy Auditing & Efficiency
- Fossil Fuels vs. Renewable Resources
- Power Generation, Grids & Future Technologies
8Printable Pages
8Requirements
2025Reqs Revised
What is on the worksheet: Energy Requirements
Every requirement for the Energy merit badge, word for word as published, with room to write under each one on the printed worksheet.
1Energy Media and Independent Reflection
Do the following:
- a With your parent or guardian's permission, use the internet to find a blog, podcast, website, or an article on the use or conservation of energy. Discuss with your counselor what details in the article were interesting to you, the questions it raises, and what ideas it addresses that you do not understand.
- b After you have completed requirements 2 through 8, revisit your source for requirement 1(a). Explain to your counselor what you have learned in completing the requirements that helps you better understand the article.
2Energy Forms, Conversions, and Working System
Show you understand energy forms and conversions by doing the following:
- a Explain how THREE of the following devices use energy, and explain their energy conversions: toaster, greenhouse, lightbulb, bow drill, cell phone, nuclear reactor, sauna, or electric vehicles.
- b Construct a system that makes at least two energy conversions and explain this to your counselor.
3Energy Efficiency and Losses
Show you understand energy efficiency by explaining to your counselor a common example of a situation where energy moves through a system to produce a useful result. Do the following:
- a Identify the parts of the system that are affected by the energy movement.
- b Name the system's primary source of energy.
- c Identify the useful outcomes of the system.
- d Identify the energy losses of the system.
4Home Energy Audit and 14-Day Conservation Log
Conduct an energy audit of your home. Keep a 14-day log that records what you and your family did to reduce energy use. Include the following in your report and, after the 14-day period, discuss what you have learned with your counselor.
- a List the types of energy used in your home such as electricity, wood, oil, liquid petroleum, and natural gas, and tell how each is delivered and measured, and the current cost; OR record the transportation fuel used, miles driven, miles per gallon, and trips using your family car or another vehicle.
- b Describe ways you and your family can use energy resources more wisely. In preparing your discussion, consider the energy required for the things you do and use on a daily basis (cooking, showering, using lights, driving, watching TV, using the computer). Explain what is meant by sustainable energy sources. Explain how you can change your energy use through reuse and recycling.
5Community Energy Waste and Trade-offs
In a notebook, identify and describe five examples of energy waste in your school or community. Suggest in each case possible ways to reduce this waste. Describe the idea of trade-offs in energy use. In your response, do the following:
- a Explain how the changes you suggest would lower costs, reduce pollution, or otherwise improve your community.
- b Explain what changes to routines, habits, or convenience are necessary to reduce energy waste. Tell why people might resist the changes you suggest.
6Energy Pie Charts and Economic Factors
Prepare pie charts showing the following information, and explain to your counselor the important ideas each chart reveals. Tell where you got your information. Explain how cost affects the use of a nonrenewable energy resource and makes alternatives practical.
- a The energy resources that supply the United States with most of its energy
- b The share of energy resources used by the United States that comes from other countries
- c The proportion of energy resources used by homes, businesses, industry, and transportation
- d The fuels used to generate America's electricity
- e The world's known and estimated primary energy resource reserves
7Advanced Energy Systems
Tell what is being done to make FIVE of the following energy systems produce more usable energy. In your explanation, describe the technology, cost, environmental impacts, and safety concerns.
- a Biomass digesters or waste-to-energy plants
- b Cogeneration plants
- c Fossil fuel power plants
- d Fuel cells
- e Geothermal power plants
- f Nuclear power plants
- g Solar power systems
- h Tidal energy, wave energy, or ocean thermal energy conversion devices
- i Wind turbines
8Careers
Identify three career opportunities that would use skills and knowledge in energy. Pick one and research the training, education, certification requirements, experience, and expenses associated with entering the field. Research the prospects for employment, starting salary, advancement opportunities and career goals associated with this career. Discuss what you learned with your counselor and whether you might be interested in this career.
Two dates, two different things
Requirements Revision vs. Worksheet Date
Scouting America last revised the Energy requirements in 2025. That is the badge, not this sheet — an older year does not mean the worksheet is out of date.
Verbatim Fidelity & Verification
This worksheet was checked against https://www.scouting.org/merit-badges/energy/ in Aug 2026 and reproduces the requirements word for word. Both dates are printed on the sheet, so a copy in a binder can always be placed in time.
Requirement text is © Scouting America, reproduced verbatim. The worksheet layout and design are original to this project.
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