IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v163y2018icp1140-1149.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the exergy degradation of the natural capital: From Szargut's updated reference environment to the new thermoecological-cost methodology

Author

Listed:
  • Valero, Alicia
  • Valero, Antonio
  • Stanek, Wojciech

Abstract

This paper shows the common developments performed by the Institute of Thermal Technology and the Research Centre for Energy Resources and Consumption regarding the assessment of natural resource degradation. Particularly, it shows the last model of the Szargut's Reference Environment, which was updated with new geological and geochemical information not available when it was originally developed. This R.E. allows for a more precise assessment of the chemical exergy of natural resources. The paper further shows the concept of the Exergy Replacement Costs (ERC) and the model of Thanatia, a theory that serves to assess the concentration exergy of mineral resources based on their scarcity degree in Nature. The combination of the ERC concept with the Thermo-Ecological Cost method (TEC), originally proposed by Szargut to assess products considering the exergy associated to the consumption of non-renewable resources extracted directly from Nature, gave birth to the TERC methodology, to better assess the degradation of the mineral capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio & Stanek, Wojciech, 2018. "Assessing the exergy degradation of the natural capital: From Szargut's updated reference environment to the new thermoecological-cost methodology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 1140-1149.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:163:y:2018:i:c:p:1140-1149
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.08.091
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036054421831627X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2018.08.091?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio & Gómez, Javier B., 2011. "The crepuscular planet. A model for the exhausted continental crust," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 694-707.
    2. Antonio Valero & Alicia Valero, 2015. "Thermodynamic Rarity and the Loss of Mineral Wealth," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-16, January.
    3. Szargut, Jan, 1989. "Chemical exergies of the elements," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 269-286.
    4. Valero, Antonio & Valero, Alicia, 2012. "Exergy of comminution and the Thanatia Earth's model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 1085-1093.
    5. Valero, Antonio & Valero, Alicia, 2010. "Exergoecology: A thermodynamic approach for accounting the Earth's mineral capital. The case of bauxite–aluminium and limestone–lime chains," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 229-238.
    6. Valero, Antonio & Agudelo, Andrés & Valero, Alicia, 2011. "The crepuscular planet. A model for the exhausted atmosphere and hydrosphere," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 3745-3753.
    7. Domínguez, Adriana & Czarnowska, Lucyna & Valero, Alicia & Stanek, Wojciech & Valero, Antonio, 2014. "Thermo-ecological and exergy replacement costs of nickel processing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 103-114.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sobhy Khedr & Melchiorre Casisi & Mauro Reini, 2022. "The Thermoeconomic Environment Cost Indicator (i ex-TEE ) as a One-Dimensional Measure of Resource Sustainability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Casisi, Melchiorre & Khedr, Sobhy & Reini, Mauro, 2023. "The Thermoeconomic Environment and the exergy-based cost accounting of technological and biological systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PA).
    3. Adrian Bejan & George Tsatsaronis, 2021. "Purpose in Thermodynamics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-25, January.
    4. Petar Sabev Varbanov & Hon Huin Chin & Alexandra-Elena Plesu Popescu & Stanislav Boldyryev, 2020. "Thermodynamics-Based Process Sustainability Evaluation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-28, April.
    5. Jose-Luis, Palacios & Abadias, Alejandro & Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio & Reuter, Markus, 2019. "The energy needed to concentrate minerals from common rocks: The case of copper ore," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 494-503.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Domínguez, Adriana & Czarnowska, Lucyna & Valero, Alicia & Stanek, Wojciech & Valero, Antonio, 2014. "Thermo-ecological and exergy replacement costs of nickel processing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 103-114.
    2. Stanek, Wojciech & Czarnowska, Lucyna, 2018. "Thermo-ecological cost – Szargut's proposal on exergy and ecology connection," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 1050-1059.
    3. Jose-Luis, Palacios & Abadias, Alejandro & Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio & Reuter, Markus, 2019. "The energy needed to concentrate minerals from common rocks: The case of copper ore," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 494-503.
    4. Valero, Antonio & Palacino, Bárbara & Ascaso, Sonia & Valero, Alicia, 2022. "Exergy assessment of topsoil fertility," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 464(C).
    5. Valero, Alicia & Domínguez, Adriana & Valero, Antonio, 2015. "Exergy cost allocation of by-products in the mining and metallurgical industry," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 128-142.
    6. Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio & Calvo, Guiomar & Ortego, Abel & Ascaso, Sonia & Palacios, Jose-Luis, 2018. "Global material requirements for the energy transition. An exergy flow analysis of decarbonisation pathways," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 1175-1184.
    7. Jose-Luis Palacios & Guiomar Calvo & Alicia Valero & Antonio Valero, 2018. "Exergoecology Assessment of Mineral Exports from Latin America: Beyond a Tonnage Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Jamali-Zghal, N. & Le Corre, O. & Lacarrière, B., 2014. "Mineral resource assessment: Compliance between emergy and exergy respecting Odum's hierarchy concept," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 272(C), pages 208-219.
    9. Domínguez, Adriana & Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio, 2013. "Exergy accounting applied to metallurgical systems: The case of nickel processing," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 37-45.
    10. Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio & Vieillard, Philippe, 2012. "The thermodynamic properties of the upper continental crust: Exergy, Gibbs free energy and enthalpy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 121-127.
    11. Antonio Valero & Alicia Valero, 2015. "Thermodynamic Rarity and the Loss of Mineral Wealth," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-16, January.
    12. Abel Ortego & Alicia Valero & Antonio Valero & Eliette Restrepo, 2018. "Vehicles and Critical Raw Materials: A Sustainability Assessment Using Thermodynamic Rarity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(5), pages 1005-1015, October.
    13. Jia, Hongxiang & Li, Tianjiao & Wang, Anjian & Liu, Guwang & Guo, Xiaoqian, 2021. "Decoupling analysis of economic growth and mineral resources consumption in China from 1992 to 2017: A comparison between tonnage and exergy perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    14. Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio & Calvo, Guiomar, 2015. "Using thermodynamics to improve the resource efficiency indicator GDP/DMC," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 110-117.
    15. Calvo, Guiomar & Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio & Carpintero, Óscar, 2015. "An exergoecological analysis of the mineral economy in Spain," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 2-8.
    16. Gabriel Carmona, Luis & Whiting, Kai & Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio, 2015. "Colombian mineral resources: An analysis from a Thermodynamic Second Law perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 23-28.
    17. Valero, Antonio & Valero, Alicia, 2012. "Exergy of comminution and the Thanatia Earth's model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 1085-1093.
    18. Palacios, Jose-Luis & Calvo, Guiomar & Valero, Alicia & Valero, Antonio, 2018. "The cost of mineral depletion in Latin America: An exergoecology view," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 117-124.
    19. Guiomar Calvo & Alicia Valero & Luis Gabriel Carmona & Kai Whiting, 2015. "Physical Assessment of the Mineral Capital of a Nation: The Case of an Importing and an Exporting Country," Resources, MDPI, vol. 4(4), pages 1-14, November.
    20. Agudelo, Andrés & Valero, Antonio & Usón, Sergio, 2013. "The fossil trace of CO2 emissions in multi-fuel energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 236-246.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:163:y:2018:i:c:p:1140-1149. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.