 Exergoecology as a tool for ecological modelling. The case of the US food production chainCésar Torres, Antonio Valero and Alicia Valero Ecological Modelling, 2013, vol. 255, issue C, 21-28 Abstract: Exergoecology and in particular, thermoeconomic analysis is used to understand the process of cost formation and to improve the design and the operation of extensive energy consumption systems such as power and chemical plants. This paper shows the capabilities for using the thermoeconomic analysis in environmental systems, and demonstrates that it could become a useful tool for identifying the ways for improving the energy resources cost and the efficiency of a macroeconomic system such as the US food production chain. The environmental impact associated with each process in the food production chain can be quantified through a thermoeconomic approach as a cost function, which represents the required natural resources to obtain a final product. In the example provided, several simulations such as the impact of the change of meat diet basis for a vegetarian diet, and reusing the residual biomass are analyzed. Keywords: Exergoecology; Thermoeconomics; Second Law; Food production chain; Ecological modelling (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:255:y:2013:i:c:p:21-28 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2013.01.021 Access Statistics for this article Ecological Modelling is currently edited by Brian D. Fath More articles in Ecological Modelling from Elsevier |
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