ON EXERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT

Environmental problems span a continuously growing range of pollutants , hazards and eco-system degradation factors that affect areas ranging from local through regional to global. Some of these problems may ari se from observable, chronic effects on, for instance, human health, wh ile others may stem from the perceived risk of a possible accidental r elease of hazardous materials. A significant number of these environme ntal issues are caused by or relate to the production, transformation and end use of energy. In this regard, energy and environment studies which lead to increased energy efficiency can reduce environmental imp act by reducing energy losses. Within the scope of exergy methods, suc h activities lead to increased exergy efficiency, which is of great im portance for practical applications. In this study, the main relations hips between energy and environmental impact are identified. Historica l and modern examples are used to illustrate some of the concepts. The relationships introduced are: order-destruction/chaos-creation, resou rce degradation and waste exergy emissions. Some examples are given de monstrating the use of exergy analysis in addressing and solving envir onmental problems. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.