In thermodynamics, eco-thermodynamics is a synonym for the science of economic thermodynamics, coined in 1995 by American mathematical physicist Robert Ayres, referring to the study of economic systems according to the first and second law of thermodynamics. [1] The quantity of prominence, in this version of economic thermodynamics, is exergy. The quantity exergy is preferred over the entropy concept because the latter contains, in his Ayres’ own words, too much “mystical baggage”. [2]
References
1. (a) Ayres, Robert U. (1998). “Eco-thermodynamics: Economics and the Second Law” (abstract), Ecological Economics, Vol 26, Issue 2, August. (pgs. 189-209).
(b) Ayres, Robert U. Ayres, L.W., Martinàs, K. (1995). “Eco-thermodynamics: Exergy and Life Cycle Analysis.” Working Papers, No. 96/04/EPS, Fontainebleau: INSEAD.
(c) Robert U. Ayres – Encyclopedia of Earth.
2. Arons, Jakob de Swaan, van der Kooi, Hendzer, and Sankaranarayanan. (2004). Efficiency and Sustainability in the Energy and Chemical Industries, (ch. 18: Economics, Ecology, and Thermodynamics, pgs. 257-84, esp. 263). CRC Press.
