The Gouy-Stodola Theorem—From Irreversibility to Sustainability—The Thermodynamic Human Development Index

Umberto Lucia,Giulia Grisolia

doi:10.3390/su13073995

Abstract

Today, very complex economic relationships exist between finance, technology, social needs, and so forth, which represent the requirement of sustainability. Sustainable consumption of resources, production and energy policies are the keys for a sustainable development. Moreover, a growing request in bio-based industrial raw materials requires a reorganization of the chains of the energy and industrial sectors. This is based on new technological choices, with the need of sustainable measurements of their impacts on the environment, society and economy. In this way, social and economic requirements must be taken into account by the decision-makers. So, sustainable policies require new indicators. These indicators must link economics, technologies and social well-being, together. In this paper, an irreversible thermodynamic approach is developed in order to improve the Human Development Index, HDI, with the Thermodynamic Human Development Index, THDI, an indicator based on the thermodynamic optimisation approach, and linked to socio-economic and ecological evaluations. To do so, the entropy production rate is introduced into the HDI, in relation to the CO2 emission flows due to the anthropic activities. In this way, the HDI modified, named Thermodynamic Human Development Index THDI, results as an indicator that considers both the socio-economic needs, equity and the environmental conditions. Examples of the use of the indicator are presented. In particular, it is possible to highlight that, if environmental actions are introduced in order to reduce the CO2 emission, HDI remains constant, while THDI changes its value, pointing out its usefulness for decision makers to evaluate a priori the effectiveness of their decisions.

Highlights

In order to suggest a response to this problem, we develop an approach based on irreversible thermodynamics, introducing the measurement of pollution and anthropic footprint into the Human Development Index, in order to obtain a new indicator for sustainability, the Thermodynamic Human Development Index (THDI), which takes into account the social, economic and ecological requirements, but is linked to the optimisation approach to engineering systems
We have introduced the Thermodynamic Human Development Index (THDI), which is an indicator related:
To the physical quantities—the entropy generation due to the anthropic activities with its related environmental impact; And to the socio-economic quantities—life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, all considered as the basis for sustainable development

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. It was the XIII Century, when St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) introduced in Philosophy the consideration of the impossibility for an effect to be stronger than its cause [1]. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) introduced in Philosophy the consideration of the impossibility for an effect to be stronger than its cause [1] This is an implicit statement on the effect of irreversibility in Nature. St. Thomas shows how the concept of irreversibility had always been clear in the history of humans

Methods

Results

Conclusion