O aumento do consumo mundial de carnes, em função do crescimento da renda, principalmente nos países em desenvolvimento, alerta para o crescente uso de recursos naturais e geração de resíduos resultante destes processos. A carne de frango surge como a principal opção para suprir esta demanda, e o Brasil apresenta-se como um dos maiores players mundiais deste mercado. O Sul do Brasil, principal região produtora de frangos, enfrenta hoje questões ambientais relacionadas ao tratamento e destinação dos dejetos e a consequente contaminação do solo e dos lençóis freáticos, o que vem limitando a expansão do setor. Atualmente, a principal fonte proteica para nutrição animal é o farelo de soja, que por ser uma fonte nobre de alimento e energia (biocombustíveis), tem apresentado preços elevados no mercado mundial. O uso de insetos como fonte proteica alternativa à dieta de frangos de corte vem sendo estudado, a fim de suprir, pelo menos em parte, esta demanda. As larvas da mosca Black Soldier Fly (BSF) possuem capacidade para digerir grandes quantidades de matéria orgânica, tanto de substratos com origem vegetal como animal. Deste bioprocessamento resulta o farelo de insetos, rico em proteína e lipídios; a quitina, composto para uso farmacêutico; e o composto orgânico, com potencial para ser utilizado como biofertilizante. Apesar das limitações de ordem cultural, sanitárias e de escala de produção, para implantação desta tecnologia no curto prazo, seu potencial vem sendo confirmado Visando aproximar o uso de insetos à realidade brasileira, primeiramente, identificaram-se as espécies que mais se adaptam as condições edafoclimáticas, e aquelas com maior potencial para processar substratos menos nobres como resíduos de grãos e dejeto animal. De acordo com as 5 características desejáveis na escolha das espécies de insetos, proposta pela Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), identificaram-se as larvas de BSF e de mosca doméstica, conforme discutido no Capítulo 3 da presente tese. A fim de identificar o status quo da avicultura brasileira do Sul do país, realizou-se a análise emergética de uma típica propriedade em sistema convencional de produção, com alto nível tecnológico. A discussão dos índices emergéticos e possibilidades de incremento em sustentabilidade foi apresentada no quarto capítulo da tese. Já o Capítulo 5, apresenta os resultados da análise emergética realizada num projeto piloto de criação e processamento de larvas de BSF no Brasil. A partir da análise bromatológica do substrato (resíduo de grãos), farelo de insetos e composto orgânico, provenientes deste projeto, determinou-se a transformidade do farelo de insetos. Esta contribuição inédita alimentará o banco de dados do International Society for the Advancement of Emergy Research (ISAER) Os demais índices emergéticos do processo foram calculados e, por meio de uma análise comparativa com o farelo de soja, também foram discutidos no terceiro artigo. Demonstrou-se os ganhos em sustentabilidade que esta inovação tecnológica pode provocar, tendo o farelo de insetos apresentado os melhores índices. Visando responder ao problema de pesquisa da presente tese: o uso de farelo de inseto pode aumentar a sustentabilidade da avicultura brasileira?; realizou-se a análise emergética comparativa de uma típica propriedade avícola em Chapecó, Santa Catarina, no ano de 2015, modificando somente a fonte proteica da dieta das aves. Foram identificados ganhos em transformidade (emergia por joule do produto), renovabilidade e nos demais índices emergéticos, demonstrando, que a inserção desta tecnologia, mesmo que no longo prazo, tem potencial para melhorar a sustentabilidade da produção de carne de frango. O apelo mundial por sustentabilidade na produção de carne é um constante desafio para os agronegócios. Mesmo com as limitações identificadas, que ainda requerem investigações e regulamentações, a tecnologia de produção de farelo de insetos apresenta-se como uma oportunidade para melhorar aspectos sociais e ambientais, além dos econômicos, voltados à sustentabilidade. / The worldwide increase of meat consumption due to growing income, especially in developing countries, alerts us to the escalating use of natural resources and waste generation from these processes. Poultry meat appears as the main option to meet this demand and Brazil represents the biggest world player in this market. The main Brazilian poultry production region, in the South, faces environmental concerns related to destination and treatment of this organic waste which is contaminating soil and groundwater. These issues are limiting the expansion of the poultry sector. Currently, soybean meal, the main protein source for animal nutrition and a noble source of energy (biofuels), is facing increasing prices in the world market. The use of insects as an alternative protein source for poultry diet has being studied, aiming to supply, at least in part, this demand. Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae have the capacity to digest huge volumes of organic material from both animal and vegetal origin. The products from this bioprocessing are insect meal, rich in protein and lipids; chitin, a pharmaceutical compound; and the organic compound that can be used as biofertilizer. Despite cultural, sanitary and scale production limitations to insert this technology in the short term, its potential is already confirmed. In Brazil, the species most adaptable to edaphoclimatic conditions and those with the greatest potential to bioprocess ‘poorer’ substrates such as grain residues and animal waste were identified as BSF and domestic fly larvae These species show the five desirable characteristics proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as discussed in Chapter Three of the thesis. An emergetic analysis of a typical farm in a conventional production system with an advanced technological level was conducted to identify the status quo of Brazilian poultry production in the Southern region. Emergetic index and the possibilities to increase sustainability of the sector are presented in Chapter Four. Chapter Five presents results from an emergy assessment of a pilot project of rearing and processing BSF larvae in Brazil. Through bromatological analysis of the substrate (grain residue), insect meal and organic compound from this project, the transformity of insect meal was determined. This unpublished contribution can feed into the database of the International Society for the Advancement of Emergy Research (ISAER). Remaining emergetic index from the process was calculated and discussed in the third article. Gains in sustainability and better index was demonstrated in favor of insect meal The research study was designed to answer the question: Can use of insect meal increase sustainability in Brazilian poultry production? A comparative emergy assessment was carried out on a typical poultry farm in Chapecó, Santa Catarina, in 2015, in which only the protein source of the poultry diet was modified. Transformity (emergy per joule of product), renewability and remaining index was calculated. It demonstrated that, even over a longer period of time, this technology has the potential to improve sustainability in poultry production. The worldwide appeal for sustainability in meat production is a constant challenge to agribusiness. Even with some limitations that still require research, the technology of insect meal is an opportunity to improve social and environmental aspects, as well as economic, while directed at sustainability.

Tools that highlight the human impact on ecosystems and the accelerating depletion of natural resources are essential in the strife towards a more sustainable way of living. Emergy analysis is a scientific and robust method to assess the degree of sustainability of human as well as natural systems. Despite the advantages of the method, its public breakthrough has been slow. One reason could be that the results of an emergy analysis are difficult to grasp. In contrast, ecological footprint is a concept that has a widespread impact, much due to its pedagogical disposition. Ecological footprint made use of the vision to develop a method to well communicate the magnitude of human effect on nature. Another more recently created method suitable in this context is ecosystem services. Ecosystem services as a concept is not yet so well developed methodologically, but its use of mainstream concepts point toward a promising application. The main purpose of this study is to make the emergy analysis and ecosystem services methods more accessible and also to facilitate effective communication of the results from these methods. The second part of the study aims to assess the degree of sustainability ofan agricultural system in central Sweden by means of emergy analysis and ecosystems services. By demonstrating the results of the emergy analysis as a foot- and fingerprint, a better understanding of the outcome may be achieved. The footprint, here called emergy-based footprint, visualizes all resources used in the production system. An emergy-based fingerprint identifies the resources of the most important items in the system. Furthermore, ecosystem services are evaluated from a data matrix and presented by means of a radar diagram. Alternative scenarios for the agricultural system were created in the study, each presented as an emergy-based foot- and fingerprint, as well as by means of a radar diagram to visualize the values of the ecosystem services. Together, these methods demonstrate the sustainability characteristics of the different production systems. Results from this study suggest the agricultural system analysed, as well as the developed scenarios, not to be sustainable. The use of emergy analysis combined with ecosystem services and the visualization methods developed in this study, serve to provide accessible and effective communication methods when aiming to transform agricultural systems towards sustainability. The communication methods developed in this study are alsoapplicable in systems other than agriculture.

No description available.

No description available.

En av de viktigaste frågorna i världen idag är naturresurshantering. Med en väx-ande befolkning och hoten från klimatförändringar kommer förvaltningen av jordens naturresurser bli än viktigare, såväl för dagens generation som kommande generationer. En viktig aspekt när det gäller naturresurshantering är hur människor uppfattar och värderar naturen. För att komma närmare dessa miljövärden har ett flertal olika vetenskapliga tillvägagångssätt föreslagits. Den här avhandlingen undersöker hur det är möjligt att närma sig miljövärden under olika omständighe-ter och utifrån olika behov. Detta görs genom att undersöka hur olika teorier har använts, och kan användas, avseende olika våtmarker i Kenya. I utvecklingslän-der har naturresurser, teoretiskt sett, ett högre värde eftersom fattiga människor till en högre grad är direkt beroende av naturresurser och ekosystemtjänster. Ut-gångspunkten i denna avhandling är sex våtmarksområden i Kenya under olika förvaltning och med ett flertal, både aktuella och potentiella, användare. I av-handlingen undersöks hur lokalsamhället, myndigheter, industrier och turister uppfattar och värderar våtmarkerna. Genom att applicera ett arenaperspektiv, som betonar vikten av tvärvetenskap, diskuteras i avhandlingen det ekonomiska värdet av miljön för att sedan applicera andra metoder såsom emergy analys, stakeholder analys, kulturteori och riskanalys för att bredda och berika värderingen av miljön. / One of the most important issues in the world, both for present and future genera-tions, concerns natural resource management. With a growing global population and the threat of climate change, issues relating to natural resource management will grow in importance with time. One fundamental aspect of natural resource management is how people perceive and value the environment. The value that is ascribed to natural resources will be one of the determinants in the choices that people face in regards to their management. A wide range of approaches have been suggested to approach environmental values. This thesis focuses on analys-ing the assessment of environmental values under different circumstances and needs. This is done by exploring the ways various theories have and can be used to approach natural resource valuation in different wetland management situations in Kenya. In the developing world the value of natural resources can, theoreti-cally, be seen as even higher than in the developed world, due to poor peoples’ direct dependency on their natural resources and the ecosystem services and goods that they provide. The point of departure in this thesis is six wetland areas with different management strategies and with multiple users. It examines how local communities, governmental authorities, industries and tourists perceive the value of the wetlands. By applying an arena perspective, that emphasises the need of interdisciplinarity, this thesis discusses the economic value of the environment and applies other methods such as, emergy analysis, stakeholder analysis, cultural theory and risk analysis, to enrich the valuation of environment.

The main objective of this thesis was to determine how far a biomass quantity, equal to the potential produced within the Swedish borders, could cover the present energy needs inSwedenwith respect to economic and ecological circumstances. Three scenarios were studied where the available biomass was converted to heat, electricity and vehicle fuel. Three different amounts of biomass supply were studied for each scenario: 1) potential biomass amounts derived from forestry, non-forest land, forest industry and community; 2) the same amounts as in Case 1, plus the potential biomass amounts derived from agriculture; 3) the same amounts as in Case 1, plus 50% of the potential pulpwood quantity. For evaluating the economic and ecological circumstances of using biomass in the Swedish energy system, the scenarios were complemented with energy, cost and emergy analysis. The scenarios indicated that it may be possible to produce 170.2 PJ (47.3 TWh) per year of electricity from the biomass amounts in Case 2. From the same amount of biomass, the maximum annual production of hydrogen was 241.5 PJ (67.1 TWh) per year or 197.2 PJ (54.8 TWh) per year of methanol. The energy analysis showed that the ratio of energy output to energy input for large-scale applications ranged from 1.9 at electric power generation by gasification of straw to 40 at district heating generation by combustion of recovered wood. The cost of electricity at gasification ranged from 7.95 to 22.58 €/GJ. The cost of vehicle work generated by using hydrogen produced from forestry biomass in novel fuel cells was economically competitive compared to today’s propulsion systems. However, the cost of vehicle work generated by using methanol produced from forestry biomass in combustion engines was rather higher compared to use of petrol in petrol engines. The emergy analysis indicated that the only biomass assortment studied with a larger emergy flow from the local environment, in relation to the emergy flow invested from society after conversion, was fuel wood from non-forest land. However, even use of this biomass assortment for production of heat, electricity or vehicle fuels had smaller yields of emergy output in relation to emergy invested from society compared to alternative conversion processes; thus, the net contribution of emergy generated to the economy was smaller compared to these alternative conversion processes. / <p>QC 20120217</p>

O uso de microalgas e cianobactérias para a produção de biocombustíveis e outros produtos e matérias-primas de interesse comercial tem sido amplamente divulgado como uma tecnologia sustentável bastante promissora, em função das elevadas produtividades areais, potencial para fixação de CO2, uso de terras não adequadas para cultivo e possibilidade de utilizar fontes alternativas de nutrientes, tais como água salobra ou efluentes agroindustriais. A produção comercial de cianobactérias em tanques abertos em formato de pista foi estudada combinando-se a modelagem matemática do crescimento nos tanques com a avaliação técnica, econômica e de sustentabilidade do processo. Construiu-se um macromodelo para a simulação dos tanques, que permitiu determinar o impacto de variáveis ambientais como, por exemplo, temperatura e luminosidade, e otimizar condições de operação e coleta. A análise econômica detalhada demonstrou o impacto dos custos de capital, operação e consumo de energia pelo processo, também destacando a importância da receita de produtos de alto valor agregado para a viabilidade do sistema, com base na tecnologia atual. Os valores de transformidade e índices de sustentabilidade e carga ambiental, obtidos através da análise emergética, são comparáveis com outros processos para obtenção de biocombustíveis de segunda geração, mas os elevados custos de construção e operação e grande consumo de energia nas etapas de coleta e extração representam ainda grandes desafios à sua sustentabilidade. A análise de sensibilidade para as principais variáveis de processo e estudos de caso para melhorias e modelos de negócio alternativos permitiram priorizar áreas para pesquisa futura com base no impacto econômico e ambiental. / The use of microalgae and cyanobacteria for the production of biofuels and other substances of commercial interest has been widely advertised as an extremely promising sustainable technology, due to the high areal productivity, potential for fixation of CO2, possibility of using non-arable land and alternative sources of nutrients such as brackish water and agricultural and industrial effluents. The commercial production of cyanobacteria in open raceway ponds was studied through the combination of a mathematical model for the algal growth with technical, economical and sustainability evaluations. A macromodel was developed to simulate the ponds, and it was used to assess the impact of environmental variables, such as light and temperature, and to optimize the process conditions for operation and harvesting. A detailed economic analysis demonstrated the impact of capital, operation costs and energy consumption, also highlighting the importance of revenue from high value products to process viability, considering the current technology. The transformity, emergy sustainability and environmental loading indices obtained by emergy analysis are comparable to other second generation biofuels, but the high construction and operation costs and energy consumption by the harvesting and extraction steps still represent major challenges to sustainability. The sensitivity analysis and evaluation of both technology improvements and alternative business models enabled the prioritization of future research areas, based on economic and environmental impact.

O uso de microalgas e cianobactérias para a produção de biocombustíveis e outros produtos e matérias-primas de interesse comercial tem sido amplamente divulgado como uma tecnologia sustentável bastante promissora, em função das elevadas produtividades areais, potencial para fixação de CO2, uso de terras não adequadas para cultivo e possibilidade de utilizar fontes alternativas de nutrientes, tais como água salobra ou efluentes agroindustriais. A produção comercial de cianobactérias em tanques abertos em formato de pista foi estudada combinando-se a modelagem matemática do crescimento nos tanques com a avaliação técnica, econômica e de sustentabilidade do processo. Construiu-se um macromodelo para a simulação dos tanques, que permitiu determinar o impacto de variáveis ambientais como, por exemplo, temperatura e luminosidade, e otimizar condições de operação e coleta. A análise econômica detalhada demonstrou o impacto dos custos de capital, operação e consumo de energia pelo processo, também destacando a importância da receita de produtos de alto valor agregado para a viabilidade do sistema, com base na tecnologia atual. Os valores de transformidade e índices de sustentabilidade e carga ambiental, obtidos através da análise emergética, são comparáveis com outros processos para obtenção de biocombustíveis de segunda geração, mas os elevados custos de construção e operação e grande consumo de energia nas etapas de coleta e extração representam ainda grandes desafios à sua sustentabilidade. A análise de sensibilidade para as principais variáveis de processo e estudos de caso para melhorias e modelos de negócio alternativos permitiram priorizar áreas para pesquisa futura com base no impacto econômico e ambiental. / The use of microalgae and cyanobacteria for the production of biofuels and other substances of commercial interest has been widely advertised as an extremely promising sustainable technology, due to the high areal productivity, potential for fixation of CO2, possibility of using non-arable land and alternative sources of nutrients such as brackish water and agricultural and industrial effluents. The commercial production of cyanobacteria in open raceway ponds was studied through the combination of a mathematical model for the algal growth with technical, economical and sustainability evaluations. A macromodel was developed to simulate the ponds, and it was used to assess the impact of environmental variables, such as light and temperature, and to optimize the process conditions for operation and harvesting. A detailed economic analysis demonstrated the impact of capital, operation costs and energy consumption, also highlighting the importance of revenue from high value products to process viability, considering the current technology. The transformity, emergy sustainability and environmental loading indices obtained by emergy analysis are comparable to other second generation biofuels, but the high construction and operation costs and energy consumption by the harvesting and extraction steps still represent major challenges to sustainability. The sensitivity analysis and evaluation of both technology improvements and alternative business models enabled the prioritization of future research areas, based on economic and environmental impact.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-25T19:30:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Joelcio E.pdf: 2686383 bytes, checksum: 4ea94bfca4c06a1d4a43d47175582d2a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Agriculture and generally livestock, the way in which they were driven from the green revolution walked deep-rooted form of externalities are these positive and / or negative,and in this context there is a need for improvement of applicable methodologies to map these, so this study aims to assess the dynamics of a unit of agricultural and livestock production temporally through emergy methodologies and inventory of greenhouse gases - GHGs. For the evaluation of proposed methodologies used a unit of agricultural and livestock production in the municipality of Carambei, state of Paraná, Brazil, and this computed data eleven years, starting in 2005 and ending in the year 2016 range this that makes up ten years of mainly agricultural production and a year with the entry of the livestock sector, this important dynamic in the time proposed comparison. By Emergy methodology sought to calculate besides the Transformity values (Tr), Renewability (%R), Income Ratio Emergy Net (EYR), Emergy Investment Ratio (EIR), Environmental load (ELR) and Sustainability Index (SI) and through the GHG inventory evaluation established that the calculations for the application of organic fertilizers, synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers, lime, urea, pesticides, also enteric fermentation, handling of animal waste (nitrous oxide and methane) , secondary sources of N2O (atmospheric deposition and leaching or runoff), crop residues, mechanized operations, electric power and combustion stationary. As the emergy methodology there was a major change of Tr values over the period studied reaching extreme values of 60276.40 sej.J-1 in year three to 121,255.08 sej.J-1 in the last year of study in However other values observed for% R,EYR, EIR, ELR and SI have not undergone substantial change, and generally behaved as regular, as the GHG observed an important dynamic of CO2 mitigation on the ground,starting from value of 13.76 t ha-1 at baseline to 39.15 Mg ha-1 in the last year survey, with special contribution of the livestock sector in this dynamic, as GHG emissions was observed that the entrance of livestock sector in the unit contributed decisively to a significant increase, especially influenced by the CH4 emission arising from enteric fermentation, however when computing the balance of CO2eq for the period studied there was no major change presenting minimum value of 4.93 MgCO2eq ha-1 in year four and a value of 6.75 MgCO2eq ha-1 in the last year of study, through the relationship established between the two methods was found to be an important change of the unit studied from the entrance to the livestock sector, the ratio Tr / CO2 balance showed minimum values 8.18 in the year seven to maximum 16.55 in the past year and the produced energy ratio (MJ) for the issuance of CO2eq (kg) showed 30.62 MJ values KgCO2eq-1 in year 2 to 8.97 MJ KgCO2eq-1 in the last year. In general it can be concluded that there was a negative change in the order of 65% for the system as a whole is subject to the emergy aspects and greenhouse gases listed after the entry of the livestock sector in the studied unit. / A agricultura e a pecuária de modo geral, da maneira em que foram impulsionadas a partir da revolução verde caminharam de forma extremamente arraigada de externalidades sejam estas positivas e/ou negativas. Neste contexto surge a necessidade de aprimoramento de metodologias aplicáveis ao mapeamento destas, assim o presente estudo visa avaliar a dinâmica de uma unidade de produção agrícola e pecuária temporalmente, através das metodologias emergética e de inventário da emissão de gases de efeito estufa - GEE. Para a avaliação das metodologias propostas utilizou-se uma unidade de produção agrícola e pecuária situada no município de Carambeí, estado do Paraná, Brasil, sendo nesta computado os dados de onze anos, iniciando no ano de 2005 e finalizando no ano de 2016, intervalo este que compõe dez anos de produção essencialmente agrícola e um ano com a entrada do setor pecuário, dinâmica importante para a comparação temporal proposta. Através da metodologia emergética buscou-se calcular os valores de: Transformidade (Tr), Renovabilidade (%R), Razão de Rendimento Emergético Líquido (EYR), Razão de Investimento de Emergia (EIR), Carga Ambiental (ELR) e Índice de Sustentabilidade (SI) e através da avaliação de inventário de GEE estabeleceu-se os cálculos referentes à aplicação de fertilizantes orgânicos, fertilizantes nitrogenados sintéticos, calcário, ureia, defensivos agrícolas, também da fermentação entérica, manejo de dejetos de animais (Óxido nitroso e Metano), fontes secundárias de N2O (deposição atmosférica e lixiviação ou escoamento superficial), resíduos de colheitas, operações mecanizadas, energia elétrica e combustão estacionária. Quanto a metodologia emergética observou-se uma importante alteração dos valores de Tr ao longo do período estudado atingindo valores extremos de 60.276,40 sej.J-1 no ano três a 121.255,08 sej.J-1 no último ano de estudo, em contrapartida os demais valores observados para %R, EYR, EIR, ELR e SI não sofreram alteração substancial, sendo que de maneira geral se comportaram como sendo regulares. Quanto aos GEE observou-se uma importante dinâmica de mitigação de CO2 no solo, partindo do valor de 13,76 Mg ha-1 no início do estudo para 39,15 Mg ha-1 no último ano de levantamento, com especial contribuição do setor pecuário nesta dinâmica. Observou-se ainda que na emissão de GEE a entrada do setor pecuário na unidade contribuiu de maneira decisiva para um aumento expressivo, em especial influenciado pela emissão de CH4 advindo da fermentação entérica, porém quando computado o saldo de CO2eq para o período estudado observou-se não haver grande alteração apresentando valor mínimo de 4,93 MgCO2eq ha-1 no ano quatro e valor de 6,75 MgCO2eq ha-1 no último ano de estudo. Através da relação estabelecida entre as duas metodologias constatou-se uma importante alteração da unidade estudada a partir da entrada do setor pecuário, a relação Tr/Saldo de CO2 apresentou valores mínimos de 8,18 no ano sete ao máximo de 16,55 no último ano e a relação de energia produzida (MJ) para a emissão de CO2eq (Kg) apresentou valores de 30,62 MJ KgCO2eq-1 no ano dois a 8,97 MJ KgCO2eq-1 no último ano. De maneira geral pode-se concluir que houve um alteração negativa na ordem de 65% para o sistema como um todo se observados os aspectos emergéticos e de gases de efeito estufa relacionados após a entrada do setor pecuário na unidade estudada.

The objective of this thesis is to establish the utility and limitations of using exergy (a thermodynamic measure of energy quality, or ability to perform work) as a resource consumption metric, and to investigate what role exergy may play in resource consumption decision-making. To do so, this thesis assessed three exergy-based resource consumption methodologies: the Exergy Replacement Cost; Eco-exergy; and Emergy. Furthermore, fundamental properties of exergy were revisited, including the exergy reference state, and the derivations of both concentration and non-flow exergy. The results of the analysis indicate three significant problem areas with applying exergy toward resource valuation. First, the exergy derivation level conflicts with the resource valuation level regarding important requirements and assumptions: the exergy reference environment is modelled as an infinitely large system in internal chemical equilibrium, and this is in incomparable to the real world; and, the derivation of non-flow exergy values items based solely upon chemical concentrations, whereas at the resource consumption level, work producing items are valuable based primarily upon chemical reactivity. Second, exergy proponents have not adequately addressed the many different and critical perspectives of exergy, including exergy as: harmful or helpful; organizing or disorganizing; a restricted or unrestricted measure of potential useful work; and applied to value systems or specific items. Third, none of the resource consumption methodologies properly apply exergy: the Exergy Replacement Cost primarily focuses on mineral upgrading; Eco-exergy is improperly derived from exergy; and Emergy has switched from being energy-based to exergy-based without any reformulation of the methodology. For the reasons provided above, among others, this author concludes there is currently no justified theoretical connection between exergy and resource value, and that there is a disjunction between how exergy is derived and how it is applied. Non exergy-based applications for the three resource consumption methodologies are proposed.