Thermo-ecology: Exergy as a Measure of Sustainability

Thermo-Ecology: Exergy as a Measure of Sustainability integrates thermo-ecology and exergy replacement cost as a new and original tool called thermo-ecology cost, TEC. This tool allows for a more inclusive measurement of the impacts of using renewable and non-renewable resources by including the thermodynamics law into decision making. This book provides applications of this tool across industries and life cycle assessments in order to assess the cradle-to grave impacts of resource use.

Non-renewable natural resources are still the dominant source of energy in most economic sectors worldwide, particularly in the electric power sector. The transformation and usage of primary energy are connected with various unfavorable environmental effects. Mainly they are the depletion of constrained resources of non-renewable energy, emission of harmful wastes to the environment and emission of greenhouse gasses and other harmful chemical. Thermo-Ecology: Exergy as a Measure of Sustainability reviews ways to investigate these effects more effectively by combining TEC with Life Cycle Assessment. This combination has emerged as a valuable decision-support tool for both policy makers and industry in evaluating the impacts of a product or process.

Walks through what Thermo-Ecology Cost (TEC) is and why it gives a more holistic assessment when calculating the costs vs benefits of utilizing a natural resourceProvides a new and more efficient way to measure and evaluate the sustainability of resourcesIncludes: TEC calculation examples to explain the TEC theory as well as to help readers prepare their own analyses devoted to exergo-ecological applications across industries including energy production and waste managementDemonstrates the potential of TEC usage for applications like ecological taxes proportional on TEC

1. Introduction 2. Energy, Resources, Ecology and Measures of Sustainability 3. Fundamentals of Exergy Analysis 4. Life cycle of the product 5. Thermo-Ecological Cost (TEC) based on Exergy Analysis 6. Applications of TEC 7. Pro-ecological tax 8. Summary