Description
WIT Press Eco-Exergy as Sustainability 2006 Edition by S. E. Jorgensen
In recent years, the economy has determined the agenda when environmental issues are concerned using cost/benefit analyses. This inevitably leads to wrong decisions because the uncertainties of the cost/benefit analyses are often magnitudes higher than that estimated by the economists. Therefore, these analyses should be replaced or supplemented by the concept of sustainability to aid the decision-making process. This book represents the first attempt to apply eco-exergy, a thermodynamic concept used to describe the development of ecosystems, to express sustainability and use it in a non-ecological context. Table of Contents : Chapter 1: Introduction Part A - The basic concepts of thermodynamics and the use of thermodynamic variables as sustainability indices Chapter 2: You cannot escape the thermodynamic laws Chapter 3: Exergy Chapter 4: Application of eco-exergy in human activities and ecosystems Chapter 5: Eco-exergy as an ecosystem health indicator Part B - The use of thermodynamic indicators Chapter 6: Eco-exergy as an ecosystem health indicator for lakes Chapter 7: Eco-exergy as an ecosystem health indicator for coastal areas Chapter 8: Eco-exergy as an ecosystem health indicator for agricultural systems Chapter 9: Eco-exergy losses and gains in the society Part C - Basic properties of ecosystems and their application for a more sustainable management of man-made and man-controlled systems Chapter 10: Properties of eco-systems Chapter 11: Ecological and sustainable management of agricultural systems Chapter 12: Ecological and sustainable management of industrial systems Chapter 13: A society based on ecological principles Part D - Conclusions and summary Chapter 14: Conclusions and summary