EXERGIES OF NATURAL-RESOURCES IN LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT AND OTHER APPLICATIONS

The applicability of exergy in the methodology of environmental life-c ycle assessment (LCA) is discussed. Exergy consumption (or entropy pro duction) may be used as a measure of resource depletion and competitio n when performing the impact assessment of an LCA. Exergies of several metal ores and other natural resources are calculated using system bo undaries compatible with LCA, i.e. the inflow is the resource as found in the environment. These system boundaries may also be appropriate f or other applications of exergy analysis and may yield results differe nt from those in calculations where only a part of the resource has be en considered. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.