On exergy and sustainable development
—Part 1: Conditions and concepts
—Part 2: Indicators and methods
Göran Wall, Mei Gong
The future of life on our planet is a matter of great concern. This paper is based on a vision of sustainable development. It is divided into two parts. The first part introduces conditions and concepts that are of importance for sustainable development. Environmental conditions in terms of causes and effects of emissions, the concept of exergy as a physical measure of difference or contrast and a number of different exergy forms common in nature are presented. Emissions and pollutants are differences in the environment, thus effecting the environment. Exergy is a suitable measure of these differences. The concept of sustainability is examined with relation to exergy flows on the earth.
Part 2 of this paper introduces methods based on presented concepts and applies these to real systems. Exergy is applied to emissions to the environment by case studies in order to describe and evaluate its values and limitations as an ecological indicator. Exergy is considered as a useful ecological indicator by reference to the literature in
the field.
See files
exergy_sust1.pdf,
exergy_sust2.pdf
