Entropy, Environment and Resources: An Essay in Physico-Economics [Paperback]

0 Introduction: Starting Point, Objectives, and Content.- 0.1 Starting Point and Objectives.- 0.2 Content.- I. Environmental Protection.- 1 An Introduction to Dynamic Models of the Environment.- 2 A Disaggregated Environment-Capital Model.- II. Entropy and the Use of the Environment.- 3 The Notion of Entropy.- 4 Using the Entropy Approach to Characterize the Environment as a Supplier of Resources.- III. The Use of Scarce Resources with Decreasing Resource Concentration.- 5 The Integration of the Resource Problem into a Disaggregated Capital Model.- 6 Replacement of Techniques over Time.- IV. Environmental Protection and Resources.- 7 Interdependencies Between Environmental Protection and Resource Use Exemplified for Recycling and Deposition.- 8 References.- 9 Subject Index.Long run aspects of environmental protection and of the use of resources are analyzed within a planning model. To this end fundamental concepts of thermodynamics are explained in a simple manner. The relationships between entropy, energy necessary for the extraction of a resource and the concentration of the resource is employed to establish a connection between the economic system and the environment.