The chart below depicts the exergy resources in our environment. Quantities represent GCEP’s best estimate of the total resource regardless of the feasibility of recovery. These numbers are occasionally updated as the estimates and assumptions change.

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A journal articleaccompanies this chart.

Exergy is the useful portion of energy that allows us to do work and perform energy services. We gather exergy from energy-carrying substances in the natural world we call energy resources. While energy is conserved, the exergetic portion can be destroyed when it undergoes an energy conversion. This diagram summarizes the exergy reservoirs and flows in our sphere of influence including their interconnections, conversions, and eventual natural or anthropogenic destruction. Because the choice of energy resource and the method of resource utilization have environmental consequences, knowing the full range of energy options available to our growing world population and economy may assist in efforts to decouple energy use from environmental damage.