Thermodynamics and economics: Towards exergy-based indicators of sustainable development

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to define indicators of sustainable development which take into account the economic constraints imposed by the laws of thermodynamics. Firstly, a survey of some essential work about the relationships between economics and thermodynamics is proposed. Secondly, the exergy concept is introduced as a tool which describes irreversibility in production processes. Finally, an indicator of sustainable development which aims at taking into account energy savings at the level of some macroeconomic aggregate, is provided. This indicator is, among other things, based on is exergy efficicency. It is also applied to heat production, on the basis of a case study.