Adjustment of the Gross National Product

There have been some prudent other efforts to make a start with correcting the GNP for factors such as the deterioration of the quality of life and the natural environment. In the Green GNP, deductions have been introduced for goods and services required for environmental protection [2], Such corrections can easily lead to a 10% reduction in the GNP or a 50% reduction in economic growth. In Japan, the Economic Planning Agency (EPA) formulated a new economic indicator called National Net Welfare (NNW). The EPA s estimates were that the NNW is 12% less than Japan s GNP [2], 

Nevertheless, the Japanese question how to quantify environmental damage and how to translate this into monetary value. It is obvious that a global approach is required a country taking measures on its own may be easily out-competed by countries that do not take measures at all. Other aspects are that pollution (e.g., in the form of waste) can be exported and productive land imported (e.g., citrus fruit imports), which does not add to the solidarity that the world s citizens must eventually develop. We would like to conclude this section with a reference to a book excerpt that has appeared in the February 2002 issue of Scientific American. The book, The Future of Life, is written by Wilson, whom we cited at the end of the last section [17], 

5 Intermezzo Thermodynamics and Economics—A Daring Comparison and Analogy 

The endoreversible heat engine irreversibilities are assumed to take place only in the engine s exchange of heat with the environment. (Taken from De Vos, A., Energy Corners. Manage., 36, 1, 1995.) 

Due to the irreversible heat exchange between the four heat reservoirs (for T0 = 300 K and T, = 600 K), the real maximum power is found to be close to a value of 0.3 rather than the ideal value of 0.5. The maximum power is found at an optimal flow rate (32 corresponding to an optimal set of temperatures T2 and T3/ satisfying the Carnot relation 

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