EXERGY, WASTE ACCOUNTING, AND LIFE-CYCLE ANALYSIS

The authors argue that thermodynamics offers a means of accounting for both resource inputs and waste outputs in a systematic and uniform wa y. The new feature of the present work is to extend the applications o f exergy analysis to resource and waste accounting and to present the results in an integrated analytical framework, namely, life-cycle anal ysis (LCA). We conclude that exergy is appropriate for general statist ical use, both as a measure of resource stocks and flows and as a meas ure of waste emissions and potential for causing environmental harm. ( C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.