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Thermodynamics
The classical Carnot heat engine
Branches Classical Statistical Chemical Quantum thermodynamics Equilibrium / Non-equilibrium
Laws Zeroth First Second Third
Systems Closed system Open system Isolated system State Equation of state Ideal gas Real gas State of matter Phase (matter) Equilibrium Control volume Instruments Processes Isobaric Isochoric Isothermal Adiabatic Isentropic Isenthalpic Quasistatic Polytropic Free expansion Reversibility Irreversibility Endoreversibility Cycles Heat engines Heat pumps Thermal efficiency
System propertiesNote: Conjugate variables in italics Property diagrams Intensive and extensive properties Process functions Work Heat Functions of state Temperature / Entropy (introduction) Pressure / Volume Chemical potential / Particle number Vapor quality Reduced properties
Material properties Property databases Specific heat capacity  ${\displaystyle c=}$ ${\displaystyle T}$ ${\displaystyle \partial S}$ ${\displaystyle N}$ ${\displaystyle \partial T}$ Compressibility  ${\displaystyle \beta =-}$ ${\displaystyle 1}$ ${\displaystyle \partial V}$ ${\displaystyle V}$ ${\displaystyle \partial p}$ Thermal expansion  ${\displaystyle \alpha =}$ ${\displaystyle 1}$ ${\displaystyle \partial V}$ ${\displaystyle V}$ ${\displaystyle \partial T}$
Equations Carnot's theorem Clausius theorem Fundamental relation Ideal gas law Maxwell relations Onsager reciprocal relations Bridgman's equations Table of thermodynamic equations
Potentials Free energy Free entropy Internal energy ${\displaystyle U(S,V)}$ Enthalpy ${\displaystyle H(S,p)=U+pV}$ Helmholtz free energy ${\displaystyle A(T,V)=U-TS}$ Gibbs free energy ${\displaystyle G(T,p)=H-TS}$
History Culture History General Entropy Gas laws "Perpetual motion" machines Philosophy Entropy and time Entropy and life Brownian ratchet Maxwell's demon Heat death paradox Loschmidt's paradox Synergetics Theories Caloric theory Vis viva ("living force") Mechanical equivalent of heat Motive power Key publications An Inquiry Concerning the Source ... Friction On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire Timelines Thermodynamics Heat engines Art Education Maxwell's thermodynamic surface Entropy as energy dispersal
Scientists Bernoulli Boltzmann Bridgman Carathéodory Carnot Clapeyron Clausius de Donder Duhem Gibbs von Helmholtz Joule Kelvin Lewis Massieu Maxwell von Mayer Nernst Onsager Planck Rankine Smeaton Stahl Tait Thompson van der Waals Waterston
Other Nucleation Self-assembly Self-organization Order and disorder
Category
v t e

Thermoeconomics is a school of heterodox economics that applies the laws of thermodynamics to economic theory. The term "thermoeconomics" was coined in 1962 by American engineer Myron Tribus, and developed by the statistician and economist Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen. Thermoeconomics can be thought of as the statistical physics of economic value. Thermoeconomics is based on the proposition that the role of energy in biological evolution should be defined and understood through the second law of thermodynamics but in terms of such economic criteria as productivity, efficiency, and especially the costs and benefits (or profitability) of the various mechanisms for capturing and utilizing available energy to build biomass and do work. As a result, thermoeconomics are often discussed in the field of ecological economics, which itself is related to the fields of sustainability and sustainable development.

Thermoeconomists claim that human economic systems can be modeled as thermodynamic systems. Then, based on this premise, they attempt to develop theoretical economic analogs of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. In addition, the thermodynamic quantity exergy, i.e. measure of the useful work energy of a system, is one measure of value. In thermodynamics, thermal systems exchange heat, work, and or mass with their surroundings; in this direction, relations between the energy associated with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services can be determined.

Thermoeconomists argue that economic systems always involve matter, energy, entropy, and information. Moreover, the aim of many economic activities is to achieve a certain structure. In this manner, thermoeconomics attempts to apply the theories in non-equilibrium thermodynamics, in which structure formations called dissipative structures form, and information theory, in which information entropy is a central construct, to the modeling of economic activities in which the natural flows of energy and materials function to create scarce resources. In thermodynamic terminology, human economic activity may be described as a dissipative system, which flourishes by transforming and exchanging resources, goods, and services. These processes involve complex networks of flows of energy and materials.

Emergy and exergy

Emergy (with an "m") analysis is a pure cost-of-production approach that measures the quality of a particular type of energy by its transformity. Exergy analysis is based on the second law of thermodynamics that describes the change in the quality of energy that accompanies its conversion from one form to another. Exergy therefore accounts for physical quality differences among different forms of energy. Exergy is the maximum amount of physical work that can be extracted from a given flow of energy.

Energy analysis in history

In Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt (George Allen & Unwin 1926), Frederick Soddy turned his attention to the role of energy in economic systems. He criticized the focus on monetary flows in economics, arguing that “real” wealth was derived from the use of energy to transform materials into physical goods and services. Soddy’s economic writings were largely ignored in his time, but would later be applied to the development of biophysical economics and ecological economics in the late 20th century. They are receiving renewed interest and thought in the light of the 2008 economic crisis.

Scientists have speculated on different aspects of energy accounting for some time as to how it might relate to alternatives in social systems. Many variations of energy accounting are in use now, as this issue relates to current (price system) economics directly, as well as projected models in possible Non-market economics systems.

Exergy analysis is performed in the field of industrial ecology to use energy more efficiently. The term exergy, was coined by Zoran Rant in 1956, but the concept was developed by J. Willard Gibbs. In recent decades, utilization of exergy has spread outside of physics and engineering to the fields of industrial ecology, ecological economics, systems ecology, and energetics.

See also

• Population dynamics
• Energy Accounting
• Energy transformation
• Ecodynamics
• Econophysics
• Systems ecology
• Energy Economics, a subdiscipline of economics concerned with the study of the role of energy in the economy
• Economics and energy
• Alfred J. Lotka (Role in developing biophysical economics.)
• Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt
• Ergosophy

Notes and references

1. ^ Sieniutycz, Stanislaw (1990). Finite-Time Thermodynamics and Thermoeconomics. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0-8448-1668-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
2. Yehia M. El-Sayed (2003). The Thermoeconomics of Energy Conversions (pg. 4). Pergamon.
3. A. Valero, L. Serra, and J. Uche (2006). Fundamentals of Exergy Cost Accounting and Thermoeconomics. Part I: Theory, Journal of Energy Resources Technology, Volume 128, Issue 1, pp. 1-8.
4. Gong, Mei, Wall, Goran. (1997). On Exergetics, Economics and Optimization of Technical Processes to Meet Environmental Conditions. Exergy Studies.
5. Georgescu-Roegen, Nicholas (1971). The Entropy Law and the Economic Process. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-25781-2.
6. Chen, Jing (2005). The Physical Foundation of Economics - an Analytical Thermodynamic Theory. World Scientific. ISBN 981-256-323-7.
7. Peter A. Corning 1*, Stephen J. Kline. (2000). Thermodynamics, information and life revisited, Part II: Thermoeconomics and Control information Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Apr. 07, Volume 15, Issue 6 , Pages 453 – 482
8. Corning, P. (2002). “Thermoeconomics – Beyond the Second Law”
9. Burley, Peter (1994). Economics and Thermodynamics – New Perspectives on Economic Analysis. Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 0-7923-9446-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
10. http://telstar.ote.cmu.edu/environ/m3/s3/05account.shtml Environmental Decision making, Science and Technology
11. Baumgarter, Stefan. (2004). Thermodynamic Models, Modeling in Ecological Economics (Ch. 18)
12. Raine, Alan (2006). "The new entropy law and the economic process". Ecological Complexity. 3: 354–360. doi:10.1016/j.ecocom.2007.02.009. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
13. http://www.eoearth.org/article/Net_energy_analysis Cleveland, Cutler (Lead Author); Robert Costanza (Topic Editor). 2008. "Net energy analysis." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). .
14. http://www.eoearth.org/article/Soddy,_Frederick Soddy, Frederick - Encyclopedia of Earth
15. Eric Zencey, "Mr. Soddy’s Ecological Economy", The New York Times, Opinion Section, April 12, 2009.
16. Stabile, Donald R. "Veblen and the Political Economy of the Engineer: the radical thinker and engineering leaders came to technocratic ideas at the same time", American Journal of Economics and Sociology (45:1) 1986, 43-44.
17. Cutler J. Cleveland, "Biophysical economics", Encyclopedia of Earth, Last updated: September 14, 2006.
18. http://exergy.se/goran/thesis/ Exergy - a useful concept by Göran Wall

Further reading

• Soddy, Frederick (1922). Cartesian Economics: The Bearing of Physical Science upon State Stewardship. London:Hendersons.
• El-Sayed, Yehia, M. (2003). The Thermoeconomics of Energy Conversions. Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-044270-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

• M. King Hubbert on the Nature of Growth. 1974
• Yuri Yegorov, article Econo-physics: A Perspective of Matching Two Sciences, Evol. Inst. Econ. Rev. 4(1): 143–170 (2007) _pdf (application/pdf Object)
• Borisas Cimbleris (1998): Economy and Thermodynamics
• Schwartzman, David. (2007). "The Limits to Entropy: the Continuing Misuse of Thermodynamics in Environmental and Marxist theory", In Press, Science & Society.
• Saslow, Wayne M. (1999). "An Economic Analogy to Thermodynamics" American Association of Physics Teachers.
• Soddy, Frederick - Encyclopedia of Earth
• Biophysical economics - Encyclopedia of Earth
• Schwartzman, David. (2007). "The Limits to Entropy: the Continuing Misuse of Thermodynamics in Environmental and Marxist theory", In Press, Science & Society.
• Saslow, Wayne M. (1999). "An Economic Analogy to Thermodynamics" American Association of Physics Teachers.
• Soddy, Frederick - Encyclopedia of Earth
• The International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) - http://www.ecoeco.org/
• The International Journal of Green Economics, http://www.inderscience.com/ijge
• The Green Economics Institute http://www.greeneconomics.org.uk
• Eco-Economy Indicators: http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/index.htm
• Ecological Economics Encyclopedia - http://www.ecoeco.org/education_encyclopedia.php
• The academic journal, Ecological Economics - http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon

• Thermodynamics
• Heterodox economics
• Schools of economic thought and methodology