Authors: Y.Ao, L.Gunnewiek and M.A.Rosen
Internationl Journal of Green Energy; 5: 1-18, 2008
Abstract
Exergy-based indicators for the environmental impact of emissions are critically reviewed in
part, by comparing them with other indicators for the environmental impact of emissions.
The work highlights the potential for exergy to be, or provide the basis for, an effective indicator
of the potential of an emitted substance to impact the environment. Relations examined
between environmental impact and exergy in general and the chemical exergy of waste emissions
in particular support the use of exergy as such an indicator. The measure provided by
exergy of disequilibrium with respect to a reference environment is considered, along with
the consequence that the exergy of unrestricted waste emissions has the potential to impact
on the environment.
Exergy is observed to exhibit many of the characteristics of other indicators
of environmental impact, which are mainly empirical in nature. An exergy-based
indicator could contribute to the development of rational and objective procedures for
assessing harmful effects on the environment and predicting environmental impact potential
for a substance. The potential usefulness of exergy in addressing environmental problems,
although significant, requires further investigation before widely accepted exergy-based
indicators of the environmental impact potential of a substance are developed.
