Message from Alicia Valero

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

It has been months since the last time we contacted you, we hope you have enjoyed your summer vacations, in despite of the pandemic situation. If you need to refresh your mind about the different contents in The Exergoecology Portal you can check it in our first Newsletter. We would like to create a bi-directional dialogue so feel free to provide us with information related to new papers published on the field, new projects, and all kinds of contents that could be relevant to be included in the website and in coming newsletters. Finally, we encourage you to disseminate it among your colleagues and to sign the Exergy Manifiesto.

Warmest regards,

Alicia

Rarity Calculator

The Rarity Calculator has been developed and it is already available in the Exergoecology portal.

How does the calculator work?

1. Click on the chemical element to enter values.
2. Enter the mass of the chemical element in grams.
3. The calculator displays the TR of the element (if the TR of the element is not known, it is considered zero).
4. The calculator displays the TR and the total mass of the device
5. The calculator displays on a bar chart the relative contributions of each element in mass (chart on the left) or in TR terms (chart on the right). Only the seven most relevant elements (either in mass or in rarity terms are shown). The remaining element are added and displayed in the item called “Rest”.
6. Initially, the graphs show the 7 most relevant elements according to their weight contribution. Alternatively, the 7 most relevant elements according to their TR value can be displayed by clicking the “Order rarity by value” button.

The following figure shows an example:

The Material Limits of Energy Transition: Thanatia

Last July, Springer editorial published  "The Material Limits of Energy Transition: Thanatia" written by Antonio Valero, Alicia Valero and Guiomar Calvo.

This book allows readers to understand the mineral heritage of the Earth, considering the demand for raw materials in society, comparing it with the availability of resources on Earth and the impact of mining.  The basics of physical geonomics are exlpained, allowing readers to analyse the loss of mineral resources on the planet. The impact of renewable energies and technologies, including electric vehicles, are studied. The book concludes with possible solutions to mineral depletion, from increasing recycling rates, ecodesign measures or alternative sources of mineral resources.

The book is available in this link. 

 Previously, this year, Icaria Editorial, published in Spanish: "Thanatia: Los Límites materiales del planeta". a call for a material transition that restores nature and effectively reuses materials, by the authors Antonio Valero and Alicia Valero, interviewed by Adrián Almazán Gómez.

The book can be purchased through the website of Icaria. 

New version of TAESS: ExIOLab

Soon we will release a new version of TAESS, which will be called ExIOLab. It is a Matlab/Octave version and includes new algorithms and functionality.
The BETA version, without manuals, is available at: https://github.com/ctorrescuadra/ExIOLab

ECOS 2021: Giardini Naxos (Taormina) June 28- July 2, 2021

34th International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulationand Environmental Impact of Energy systems (ECOS).

CIRCE Institute participated in several papers:

• Extraction energy as a function of ore grade decline: the case of coltan. Ricardo Magdalena, Alicia Valero
• Variation of the specific energy when the ore grade decreases: the case of nickel, cobalt and PGMs. Ricardo Magdalena, Alicia Valero, Antonio Valero and José Luís Palacios.
• Assessment of the thermodynamic rarity of mobile phones PCB. Jorge Torrubia, Antonio Valero, Alicia Valero.
• Thermoeconomics as a cost accounting methodology for Spiral Economy and Industrial Symbiosis. Antonio Valero,  César Torres.

Special Issue

Special Issue "Exergy-Based Methods: Fundamentals and Applications"

Other recently published scientific papers

Torres, C., Valero, A. The exergy cost theory revisited (2021) Energies, 14 (6), 1594. Available at:  https://doi.org/10.3390/en14061594

 Magdalena, R., Valero, A., Palacios, J.-L., Valero, A. Mining energy consumption as a function of ore grade decline: The case of lead and zinc. (2021) Journal of Sustainable Mining, 20 (2), pp. 109-121. Available at: https://doi.org/10.46873/2300-3960.1060

 Russo, S., Valero, A., Valero, A., Iglesias-Émbil, M. Exergy-based assessment of polymers production and recycling: An application to the automotive sector (2021) Energies, 14 (2), 363. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/en14020363

 Ledari, M.B., Saboohi, Y., Valero, A., Azamian, S. Exergy analysis of a bio-system: Soil–plant interaction. (2021) Entropy, 23 (1), 3, pp. 1-28. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/e23010003

 Ortego, A., Calvo, G., Valero, A., Iglesias-Émbil, M., Valero, A., Villacampa, M. Assessment of strategic raw materials in the automobile sector. (2020) Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 161, 104968. Available at:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104968

Valero, A., Valero, A.Thermodynamic rarity and recyclability of raw materials in the energy transition: The need for an in-spiral economy. (2020) Entropy, 21 (9), 873, pp. 1-14.

Available at:  http://doi.org/10.3390/e21090873

Simla, T., Stanek, W. Influence of the wind energy sector on thermal power plants in the Polish energy system. (2020) Renewable Energy, 161, pp. 928-938.  Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.07.122

 Pajączek, K., Kostowski, W., Stanek, W. Natural gas liquefaction using the high-pressure potential in the gas transmission system (2020) Energy, 202,117726. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.117726