AC,
I tend to think more in terms of emergy use. This along with the exergy analysis works very well to determine the real eco-cost and efficiency of energy use in general.
"Beginning in the last century man began to develop an entirely new basis for power with the use of coal, oil, and other stored-energy sources to supplement solar energy. Concentrated inputs of power whose accumulation had been the work of billions of acres of solar energy, became available for manipulation by man.
The first formal statement of what would later be termed emergy was in 1973:
Energy is measured by calories, btu’s, kilowatthours, and other intraconvertable units, but energy has a scale of quality which is not indicated by these measures. The ability to do work for man depends on the energy quality and quantity and this is measurable by the amount of energy of a lower quality grade required to develop the higher grade. The scale of energy goes from dilute sunlight up to plant matter, to coal, from coal to oil, to electricity and up to the high quality efforts of computer and human information processing.
Given next are definitions of most important terms used in the emergy methodology.
Emergy is the available energy of one form that is used up in transformations directly and indirectly to make a product or service. The unit of emergy is the emjoule or emergy joule. Using emergy, sunlight, fuel, electricity, and human service can be put on a common basis by expressing each of them in the emjoules of solar energy that is required to produce them. If solar emergy is the baseline, then the results are solar emjoules (abbreviated seJ). Although other baselines have been used, such as coal emjoules or electrical emjoules, in most cases emergy data are given in solar emjoules."-copied straight from wikipedia.
Most seasoned designers have the mindset that energy is energy is energy. It's all the same, no matter how you get it. They will design their contraptions to be the least expensive in 99% of cases, taking a total cost of ownership approach. IMHO, this works against the concepts of exergy and emergy efficency, and when you step back and take a look at the total package created, it is horribly wasteful.
America has a lot to learn from our European neighbors. We cannot continue to horde and gobble up all the energy the earth can muster forever. Eventually high-grade energy will be priced out of economic reach of most of us. The energy we need is in the ground and the sun, things that the Carnegies and Rockefellers of today can't sell us! If it worked for the Romans for hundreds of years, why can't it work for us today?
By the way, I can't get enough of the research you have done. I just love the way you spout out information freely that "professionals" tend to hold close to the vest or deny flatly. It has helped me greatly. Keep up the good work, brother.
Jeff
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