Message from Alicia Valero

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

it is with great pleasure that today we present the new Exergoecology Portal. The Portal started in 2005 with the altruistic initiative of colleagues from my Institute in Spain (CIRCE), mainly prof. Valero and Dr. Torres and of the Institute of Thermal Technology with prof. Szargut and prof. Stanek. The portal aim was to serve as a window for the whole world about new developments in the field of Exergy Analysis and its application to assess resource degradation. Thanks to its contents and freely available dynamic functionalities such as the first and only online chemical exergy calculator and the thermoeconomic analysis software TAESS, we have been able to attract around 300 reputed scientists around the world and have more than 1000 visits per day. Unfortunately, due to lack of financing we were not able to update regularly the web site until now. Below you will see the new features of the Portal, with the incorporation of this newsletter as a novelty. We will keep on sending regularly this newsletter with hopefully input also from all of you. Our aim is that this new fresh design of the Portal helps to boost the interest of not only Academy, but also Industry and Institutions in the use of Exergy and related concepts as a powerful, rigorous and objective tool to assess and optimize resource use. It will also serve to keep the memory of prof. Szargut alive. In order to increment the critical mass of this initiative, I would like to ask you to disseminate it among your colleagues and to sign the Exergy Manifesto.

Warmest regards,

Alicia

Check our brand new website!

We are excited to present our recently updated website, with a new design and new logo which represents the exergy and natural resource degradation associated to the passage of time. In this updated version of The exergoecology portal you will find the following content:

- Exergoecology. In this section you will find a description of what is Exergoecology, the reference environment, a short description of Thanatia along with the  thermodynamic rarity concept, with some case studies where it has been applied, and a section related to thermoecological costs.

- Chemical exergy calculator.  The only online chemical exergy  calculator with a database of more than 2000 inorganic substances.

- Flow exergy calculator. A new feature in this version, incorporating a calculator of thermodynamic properties of water/steam. In further updates, more substances will be included.

- TAESS. Software tool designed for the thermoeconomic analysis of energy systems. Version 2 of TAESS is freely available for download.

- Exergy manifesto. Appeal to the United Nations and the European Union by thermodynamic researchers, to gain supporters for building a critical mass of stakeholders in favor of the applications of the exergy analysis to natural resource assessment.

- Resources. A recently updated bibliography, ready to be downloaded to any bibliographic format and links to the most important natural resources databases, journals and research institutions and societies.

We invite you to take a moment to navigate through the new site and feel free to send back any questions, comments or suggestions you may have.

As you might have noticed, we are also presenting this new newsletter, where we want to include information related to new website content, exergy-related conferences and workshops, latest news, etc.

Additionally, feel free to provide us with information related to new papers published on the field, new projects, and all kinds of content that could be relevant to be included in the website and in coming newsletters.

Tribute to Professor Jan Szargut

Professor Jan Szargut (09 Sep 1923 Lwów – 21 Nov 2017 Gliwice) was one of the world’smost valued experts on thermodynamics, energy management and, in particular, exergy analysis. He is particularly known for his work on irreversibility of thermal processes. He also elaborated the theory of chemical exergy calculation and he introduced the concept of reference substances most common in the natural environment.

During the ECOS 2018 conference a special session is going to be dedicated to Professor Szargut, where original papers devoted to thermodynamics and exergy analysis with the reference to professor Szargut’s works and achievements within the field of thermodynamics and exergy analysis will be presented.

Additionally, the CPOTE 2018 conference is going to be dedicated to the Memory of Professor Jan Szargut.

Save the date

5th International Conference Contemporary Problems of Thermal Engineering Energy Systems (CPOTE) in the Near Future: Energy, Exergy, Ecology and Economics. Dedicated to the Memory of Professor Jan Szargut.

Organized by Institute of Thermal Technology and Silesian University of Technology

Where: Gliwice, Poland.

When: 18-21 September 2018.

Website: http://www.cpote2018.eu/

31st International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulationand Environmental Impact of Energy systems (ECOS).

Organized by Universidade do Minho.

Where: Guimarães, Portugal.

When: 17-22 June 2018.

Website: http://www.ecos2018.org/

Other relevant information

 -  UNEP/SETAC task force mineral resources: UNEP/SETAC is elaborating a white paper regarding mineral depletion assessment in LCA. Currently, a thermodynamic group has been created which will push for the inclusion of thermodynamic approaches in LCA.

-   Recently published scientific papers:

- Ortego A, Valero A, Valero A, Restrepo E. Vehicles and critical raw materials. A sustainability assessment using thermodynamic rarity. Journal of Industrial Ecology 2018.  DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12737

- Palacios, J.L., Calvo, G., Valero, A, Valero. A. Exergoecology assessment of mineral exports from Latin America: beyond a tonnage perspective. Sustainability 2018, 10, 723. DOI: 10.3390/su10030723

- Gladysz, P., Stanek, W; Czarnowska, Sładek, S., Szlęk, A .Thermo-ecological evaluation of an integrated MILD oxy-fuel combustion power plant with CO2 capture, utilisation, and storage – A case study in Poland. Energy 2018. Volume 144, pp. 379-392. DOI10.1016/j.energy.2017.11.133

- Stanek, W; Czarnowska, L. Gazda, W., Simla, T. Thermo-ecological cost of electricity from renewable energy sources. Renewable Energy 115. Vol. 115, pp. 87-96. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.07.074

- Calvo G, Valero A, Valero A. Assessing maximum production peak and resource availability of non-fuel mineral resources: Analyzing the influence of extractable global resources. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2017;125:208–17. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.06.009.

- Calvo G, Valero A, Valero A. Thermodynamic Approach to Evaluate the Criticality of Raw Materials and Its Application through a Material Flow Analysis in Europe. Journal of Industrial Ecology 2017. DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12624

-  Relevant books

- Thermodynamics for Sustainable Management of Natural Resources. Wojciech Stanek (Editor). ISBN 978-3-319-48649-9. http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319486482