Using exergy to analyze the sustainability of an urban area

Balocco, Carla; Papeschi, S; Grazzini, Giuseppe; Basosi, Riccardo

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2003.08.006

Cited by 46 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Applications to which the concept of exergy has been applied include optimization of thermal systems [17,18], power plants [19,20], industrial processes [21] such as metal production [22], desalination [23] and paper production [24]. The concept has also been extended for resource accounting [25][26][27] and-of most relevance in the present work-for extended accounting of resource consumption across the life cycle of systems [28][29][30] and sustainability assessments [31][32][33]. The principle notion is that the presence of irreversible processes in a system's life cycle reduces its sustainability.…”

Section: Lifetime Exergy Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing environmentally sustainable electronic cooling systems using exergo-thermo-volumes

Shah

Patel

2009

Int. J. Energy Res.

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SUMMARYThermo-volumes allow the design engineer to expediently understand the thermal resistance of a given cooling solution (an indicator of performance) along with its flow resistance (an indicator of the pumping power, or energy consumption, which will be required by the fluid handler). In the present work, we expand upon thermo-volumes by including the lifetime exergy cost (in units of Joules of availability destroyed) as a means to enable the consideration of resource consumption (and thus the environmental sustainability) of the cooling solution.To achieve these exergo-thermo-volumes, we reinterpret previous definitions of thermo-volumes in terms of the entropy generated during heat transfer and fluid flow. The Guoy-Stodola theorem is used to convert this entropy generation into an 'operational' exergy loss. Next, based on the material choice and assembly processes used in creating the product, an embedded exergy consumption that accounts for the amount of exergy destroyed during extraction, transportation and disposal of the material is attached to the operational exergy loss. Thus, the total 'cradle-to-cradle' exergy loss of the solution is devised. In this framework, the optimal solution will be that which destroys the minimal amount of exergy. Correspondingly, instead of relying upon the coefficient of performance (which is focused on operational consumption), we propose evaluation of cooling solutions in terms of the heat removal capacity per unit lifetime exergy consumption.The paper concludes by illustrating applicability of the method to the design of an enterprise server. It should be noted that although the paper is focused on electronics cooling solutions, the methodology is designed to be sufficiently general for use in any thermal management application.

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Section: Lifetime Exergy Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing environmentally sustainable electronic cooling systems using exergo-thermo-volumes

Shah

Patel

2009

Int. J. Energy Res.

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“…It has been successfully applied in life-cycle analyses [18][19][20][21]. The few cases in a building context [22][23][24] suggest the possibilities of exergy resource accounting.…”

Section: Exergymentioning

confidence: 99%

Exergetic life-cycle assessment (ELCA) for resource consumption evaluation in the built environment

Meester

Dewulf

Verbeke

et al. 2009

Building and Environment

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“…However, emergy is at present the only method that directly accounts for the effects of non-commercial fluxes (rain, solar irradiation, wind, etc.) and non-material metabolic flows (information and culture) in the product "cost" [32]). In this research, the emergy analytical framework based on material flow analysis is used to analyze the interactions between human society and the natural environment.…”

Section: Urban Metabolism Framework and Mfa Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After the housing distribution monetization system was established, they were sold to employees at low prices. flows (information and culture) in the product "cost" [32]). In this research, the emergy analytical framework based on material flow analysis is used to analyze the interactions between human society and the natural environment.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability and Chinese Urban Settlements: Extending the Metabolism Model of Emergy Evaluation

et al. 2016

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Anthropogenic activity interacts with urban form and inner metabolic processes, ultimately impacting urban sustainability. China's cities have experienced many environmental issues and metabolic disturbances since the nation-wide market-oriented "reform and opening-up" policy was adopted in the 1980s. To analyze urban reform policy impacts and metabolism sustainability at a settlement scale, this study provides an integrated analysis to evaluate settlement metabolism and sustainability using a combination of emergy analysis and sustainability indicators based on scrutiny of two typical settlements (one pre-and one post-reform). The results reveal that housing reform policy stimulated better planning and construction, thereby improving built environmental quality, mixed functional land use, and residential livability. The pre-reform work-unit settlements are comparatively denser in per capita area but have less mixed land use. Housing reform has spatially changed the work-housing balance and increased commuting travel demand. However, short commuting distances in pre-reform settlements will not always decrease overall motor vehicle usage. Integrating non-commuting transport with local mixed land-use functional planning is a necessary foundation for sustainable urban design. Functional planning should provide convenient facilities and infrastructure, green space, and a suitable household density, and allow for short travel distances; these characteristics are all present in the post-reform settlement.

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Using exergy to analyze the sustainability of an urban area

Cited by 46 publications

References 13 publications

Designing environmentally sustainable electronic cooling systems using exergo-thermo-volumes

Designing environmentally sustainable electronic cooling systems using exergo-thermo-volumes

Exergetic life-cycle assessment (ELCA) for resource consumption evaluation in the built environment

Sustainability and Chinese Urban Settlements: Extending the Metabolism Model of Emergy Evaluation

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