Published May 2007 | Version v1
Journal article

Application of exergy as thermodynamic indicator in ecology

  • 1. DFU, Institute A, Section of Environmental Chemistry, University Park 2, 2100 Copenhagen O (Denmark)

Description

We introduce a modified form of exergy named eco-exergy as an ecological indicator. Exergy of detritus and of various organisms are found based upon the definition of eco-exergy. Eco-exergy measures a system's deviation from chemical equilibrium. It is, therefore, crucial to find the concentration of detritus and the various organisms at chemical equilibrium which is possible by the calculation of the probability to form detritus and the various organisms by chemical equilibrium. It implies that the probability to form proteins with the right amino acid sequence must be determined by the use of the amount of coding genes. It is stressed that what we determine by this method of exergy calculation is a relative eco-exergy index. It is not possible to find the eco-exergy of entire ecosystems, because they are far too complex to allow us to know all the details of an ecosystem. The eco-exergy indices have been found in a few cases to demonstrate the usefulness of the method and to show how the exergy indices can be translated to applicable ecological information

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1016/j.energy.2006.06.011;
PII
S0360-5442(06)00146-0;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Energy (Oxford)
Journal Volume
32
Journal Issue
5
Journal Page Range
p. 673-685
ISSN
0360-5442
CODEN
ENEYDS

INIS

Country of Publication
United Kingdom
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
38105979
Subject category
S60: APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES;
Descriptors DEI
AMINO ACID SEQUENCE; DETRITUS; ECOLOGY; ECOSYSTEMS; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS; EXERGY; GENES; PROTEINS
Descriptors DEC
ENERGY; MOLECULAR STRUCTURE; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Optional Information

Copyright
Copyright (c) 2006 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.