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...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2012-07-01
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| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/5/7/2197 |
| _version_ | 1811186424872960000 |
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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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