New Emergy Evaluating Indices for Industrial Systems

Abstract In order to extend the applied range of emergy analysis method, this article combines the method of emergy analysis which roots in the ecosystem and the method of cumulative exergy analysis which is popular in industrial systems. The exergy of a product is evaluated based on its cumulative solar exergy. The concepts of industrial emergy and social emergy are proposed. Some new emergy evaluating indices are established, which are more suitable for industrial applications, including industrial emergy efficiency (IEE), industrial emergy social benefits (IESB), and industrial emergy index of sustainable development (IEISD). Two kinds of ethanol production systems—ethylene hydration process and corn fermentation process—are used as the case study. Compared with the conventional emergy analysis, the results are more reasonable.

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