Keywords
environmental impacts
resource management
sustainability
exergy
Critical Natural Capital
How to Cite
Abstract
Economic development over recent centuries can be explained by the presence of three factors of production: capital, labor, and the use of exergy (available energy) from fossil-based fuels. The way these factors combine — that is, the system underlying our consumption patterns — runs counter to the dynamics of natural ecosystems and, therefore, to the long-term sustainability of the species that depend on these resources. This article proposes a different way of evaluating resources for decision-making from the perspective of exergetic analysis, which allows all physical manifestations to be expressed in energy units independent of their economic value, enabling sustainable management of renewable resources and assessment of the strategies best suited to the ecological conditions of our environment.
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Copyright (c) 2012 Karem Johanna Castro Peláez; Carlos Andrés Uribe Trujillo