Energy

Clemens Mostert

Chapter 59 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, 2026, pp 208-210 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This entry emphasizes the fundamental role of energy and its significance in environmental assessments. It presents the concept of energy and its role in supply and demand contexts. Energy represents a system's capacity to perform work. Governed by the First Law of Thermodynamics, energy can transform but not be destroyed. Energy exists in various forms such as mechanical, thermal, electrical, or chemical. Feedstock energy refers to the energy content stored in raw materials used as inputs in industrial processes before any conversion or transformation. Driven by the energy demand, the necessity for product or service provision, primary energy, sourced from nature, undergoes processing for consumption as final energy and usage as useful energy. Accounting for all energy flows is essential to accurately assess environmental impacts and to guide sustainability efforts. Energy footprint calculations assess the complete life cycle energy needs of a product or service per functional unit, using the cumulative energy demand (CED) as an indicator. Embodied energy, often also referred to as gray energy, encompasses the primary energy demand of all components of a product over its complete life cycle.

Keywords: Feedstock Energy; Energy Transformation; Energy Accounting; Energy Footprint; Cumulative Energy Demand; Embodied Energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035309887
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