The Characteristics of the Exergy Reference Environment and Its Implications for Sustainability-Based Decision-Making
In the energy realm there is a pressing need to make decisions in a complex world characterized by biophysical limits. Exergy has been promoted as a preferred means of characterizing the impacts of resource consumption and waste production for the purpose of improving decision-making. This paper pro...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2012-07-01
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Series: | Energies |
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Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/5/7/2197 |
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author | Stephen Murphy Roydon A. Fraser Kyrke Gaudreau |
author_facet | Stephen Murphy Roydon A. Fraser Kyrke Gaudreau |
author_sort | Stephen Murphy |
collection | DOAJ |
description | In the energy realm there is a pressing need to make decisions in a complex world characterized by biophysical limits. Exergy has been promoted as a preferred means of characterizing the impacts of resource consumption and waste production for the purpose of improving decision-making. This paper provides a unique and critical analysis of universal and comprehensive formulations of the chemical exergy reference environment, for the purpose of better understanding how exergy can inform decision-making. Four related insights emerged from the analysis, notably: (1) standard and universal chemical exergy reference environments necessarily encounter internal inconsistencies and even contradictions in their very formulations; (2) these inconsistencies are a result of incompatibility between the exergy reference environment and natural environment, and the desire to model the exergy reference environment after the natural environment so as to maintain analytical relevance; (3) the topics for which exergy is most appropriate as an analytical tool are not well served by comprehensive reference environments, and (4) the inconsistencies point to a need for deeper reflection of whether it is appropriate to adopt a thermodynamic frame of analysis for situations whose relevant characteristics are non-thermodynamic (e.g., to characterize scarcity). The use of comprehensive reference environments may lead to incorrect recommendations and ultimately reduce its appeal for informing decision-making. Exergy may better inform decision-making by returning to process dependent reference states that model <em>specific</em> processes and situations for the purpose of engineering optimization. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:46:15Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-7d9416b6bef94aa899391227d30ea433 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1996-1073 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:46:15Z |
publishDate | 2012-07-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Energies |
spelling | doaj.art-7d9416b6bef94aa899391227d30ea4332022-12-22T04:21:05ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732012-07-01572197221310.3390/en5072197The Characteristics of the Exergy Reference Environment and Its Implications for Sustainability-Based Decision-MakingStephen MurphyRoydon A. FraserKyrke GaudreauIn the energy realm there is a pressing need to make decisions in a complex world characterized by biophysical limits. Exergy has been promoted as a preferred means of characterizing the impacts of resource consumption and waste production for the purpose of improving decision-making. This paper provides a unique and critical analysis of universal and comprehensive formulations of the chemical exergy reference environment, for the purpose of better understanding how exergy can inform decision-making. Four related insights emerged from the analysis, notably: (1) standard and universal chemical exergy reference environments necessarily encounter internal inconsistencies and even contradictions in their very formulations; (2) these inconsistencies are a result of incompatibility between the exergy reference environment and natural environment, and the desire to model the exergy reference environment after the natural environment so as to maintain analytical relevance; (3) the topics for which exergy is most appropriate as an analytical tool are not well served by comprehensive reference environments, and (4) the inconsistencies point to a need for deeper reflection of whether it is appropriate to adopt a thermodynamic frame of analysis for situations whose relevant characteristics are non-thermodynamic (e.g., to characterize scarcity). The use of comprehensive reference environments may lead to incorrect recommendations and ultimately reduce its appeal for informing decision-making. Exergy may better inform decision-making by returning to process dependent reference states that model <em>specific</em> processes and situations for the purpose of engineering optimization.http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/5/7/2197exergyresource valuewaste impactsustainability assessment |
spellingShingle | Stephen Murphy Roydon A. Fraser Kyrke Gaudreau The Characteristics of the Exergy Reference Environment and Its Implications for Sustainability-Based Decision-Making Energies exergy resource value waste impact sustainability assessment |
title | The Characteristics of the Exergy Reference Environment and Its Implications for Sustainability-Based Decision-Making |
title_full | The Characteristics of the Exergy Reference Environment and Its Implications for Sustainability-Based Decision-Making |
title_fullStr | The Characteristics of the Exergy Reference Environment and Its Implications for Sustainability-Based Decision-Making |
title_full_unstemmed | The Characteristics of the Exergy Reference Environment and Its Implications for Sustainability-Based Decision-Making |
title_short | The Characteristics of the Exergy Reference Environment and Its Implications for Sustainability-Based Decision-Making |
title_sort | characteristics of the exergy reference environment and its implications for sustainability based decision making |
topic | exergy resource value waste impact sustainability assessment |
url | http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/5/7/2197 |
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