This book is a unique, multidisciplinary effort to apply rigorous thermodynamics fundamentals, a disciplined scholarly approach, to problems of sustainability, energy, and resource uses. Applying thermodynamic thinking to problems of sustainable behavior is a significant advantage in bringing order to ill-defined questions with a great variety of proposed solutions, some of which are more destructive than the original problem. The articles are pitched at a level accessible to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in courses on sustainability, sustainable engineering, industrial ecology, sustainable manufacturing, and green engineering. The timeliness of the topic, and the urgent need for solutions make this book attractive to general readers and specialist researchers as well. Top international figures from many disciplines, including engineers, ecologists, economists, physicists, chemists, policy experts and industrial ecologists among others make up the impressive list of contributors.

This book is a unique, multidisciplinary, effort to apply rigorous thermodynamics fundamentals, a disciplined scholarly approach, to problems of sustainability, energy, and resource uses. Applying thermodynamic thinking to problems of sustainable behavior is a significant advantage in bringing order to ill defined questions with a great variety of proposed solutions, some of which are more destructive than the original problem. The articles are pitched at a level accessible to advanced undergraduates and graduate students in courses on sustainability, sustainable engineering, industrial ecology, sustainable manufacturing, and green engineering. The timeliness of the topic, and the urgent need for solutions make this book attractive to general readers and specialist researchers as well. Top international figures from many disciplines, including engineers, ecologists, economists, physicists, chemists, policy experts and industrial ecologists among others make up the impressive list of contributors"

This book examines ways of assessing the rational management of nonrenewable resources. Integrating numerous methods, it systematically exposes the strengths of exergy analysis in resources management. Divided into two parts, the first section provides the theoretical background to assessment methods, while the second section provides practical application examples. The topics covered in detail include the theory of exergy cost and thermo-ecological cost, cumulative calculus and life cycle evaluation. This book serves as a valuable resource for researchers looking to investigate a range of advanced thermodynamic assessments of the influence of production processes on the depletion of nonrenewable resources.

The concept of a circular economy has been gaining increasing attention in recent years. Many of the sources of chemicals we have become reliant on are dwindling and the accumulation of waste products poses a serious environmental problem. Recovering resources from these waste materials can reduce our dependence on less sustainable virgin feedstocks, as well as reducing the quantity of material going to landfill sites. Bringing together a broad range of cross-disciplinary topics on resource recovery this book provides a valuable resource for those working in circular economy research, green chemistry and waste management.

The authors look to the laws of thermodynamics for answers to the questions of evolution, ecology, economics, and even life's origin.

Is Gaia becoming Thanatia, a resource exhausted planet? For how long can our high-tech society be sustained in the light of declining mineral ore grades, heavy dependence on un-recycled critical metals and accelerated material dispersion? These are all root causes of future disruptions that need to be addressed today. This book presents a cradle-to-cradle view of the Earth's abiotic resources through a novel and rigorous approach based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics: heat dissipates and materials deteriorate and disperse. Quality is irreversibly lost. This allows for the assessment of such depletion and can be used to estimate the year where production of the main mineral commodities could reach its zenith. By postulating Thanatia, one acquires a sense of destiny and a concern for a unified global management of the planet's abiotic resource endowment. The book covers the core aspects of geology, geochemistry, mining, metallurgy, economics, the environment, thermodynamics and thermochemistry. It is supported by comprehensive databases related to mineral resources, including detailed compositions of the Earth's layers, thermochemical properties of over 300 substances, historical energy and mineral resource inventories, energy consumption and environmental impacts in the mining and metallurgical sector and world recycling rates of commodities. Contents:The Threads: Minerals, Economy and Thermodynamics:The Depletion of Non-Renewable Abiotic ResourcesEconomic versus Thermodynamic AccountingFrom Thermodynamics to Economics and EcologyPhysical Geonomics: A Cradle-Grave-Cradle Approach for Mineral Depletion AssessmentOver the Rainbow: From Nature to Industry:The Geochemistry of the EarthThe Resources of the EarthAn Introduction to Mining and MetallurgyMetallurgy of Key MineralsDown the Rainbow: From Grave to Cradle:Thermodynamics of Mineral ResourcesThanatia and the Crepuscular Earth ModelThe Exergy of the Earth and Its Mineral ResourcesThe Exergy Replacement Costs of Mineral WealthThe Exergy Evolution of Mineral WealthTying the Rainbows: Towards a Rational Management of Resources:Recycling SolutionsThe Challenge of Resource DepletionThe Principles of Resource EfficiencyEpilogue Readership: Thermodynamicists, geologists, economists, policy makers, and mining, environmental and chemical engineers. Keywords:Exergy;Mineral Resources;Depletion;Hubbert Peak;Gibbs Free Energy;Mineralogical Composition of the Earth;ThermodynamicsReviews: "This is an exhaustive treatment of the subject with numerous tables of the baseline date and discussions going from basic thermodynamics to economics and social sciences. It is an essential read for any scientist who is concerned with resource evaluation and how we can best manage these assets and continue to live on an Earth in which we appreciate the service provided by the resource and thus avoid Thanatia in defence of Gaia." John Ludden Executive Director, British Geological Survey “'Thanatia' presents a refreshing way of analysing the run-down of our mineral inheritance … To serious students of the resource problem the numerous tables in 'Thanatia' are useful because they are thought-provoking as much as for the numerical data. 'Thanatia' is a big book, with a wealth of data and background material on the minerals industry, representing many years of intensive investigation and analysis.” Jane H Hodgkinson & Frank D Stacey CSIRO, Australia Authors of The Earth as a Cradle for Life “The unusual title of the book Thanatia (death in Greek) leads its readers to understand what sustainability really means and to quantify the problem of mineral depletion using both disciplines thermodynamics and economics. ” Ph. Vieillard Director of Research C.N.R.S., Poitiers, France

Over the past decade, renewables-based technology and sustainability assessment methods have grown tremendously. Renewable energy and products have a significant role in the market today, and the same time sustainability assessment methods have advanced, with a growing standardization of environmental sustainability metrics and consideration of social issues as part of the assessment. Sustainability Assessment of Renewables-Based Products: Methods and Case Studies is an extensive update and sequel to the 2006 title Renewables-Based Technology: Sustainability Assessment. It discusses the impressive evolution and role renewables have taken in our modern society, highlighting the importance of sustainability principles in the design phase of renewable-based technologies, and presenting a wide range of sustainability assessment methods suitable for renewables-based technologies, together with case studies to demonstrate their applications. This book is a valuable resource for academics, businesses and policy makers who are active in contributing to more sustainable production and consumption. For more information on the Wiley Series in Renewable Resources, visit www.wiley.com/go/rrs Topics covered include: The growing role of renewables in our society Sustainability in the design phase of products and processes Principles of sustainability assessment Land use analysis Water use analysis Material and energy flow analysis Exergy and cumulative exergy analysisCarbon and environmental footprint methods Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), social Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) Case studies: renewable energy, bio-based chemicals and bio-based materials.