Mechanical energy is the most useful energy form to humans. This motivates the question: given an energy resource – fossil or nuclear fuel, wind, solar, geothermal – what is the maximum mechanical energy one may extract? A similar question is: what is the difference between the low-temperature waste heat of a nuclear power plant and the high-temperature heat in the nuclear reactor? The combination of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, in conjunction with the characteristics of the environment where energy conversion processes occur, offers a definitive answer to these and similar questions: exergy is the thermodynamic variable that describes the maximum mechanical work that may be extracted from energy resources, the concept that quantifies the quality of energy. This chapter elucidates the concept of exergy and its relationship to the energy resources. It derives useful expressions for the exergy of primary energy sources including: fossil fuels, geothermal, solar, wind, hydraulic, tidal, wave, and nuclear. The effects of the environment on the exergy of energy sources, the energy conversion processes, and the exergetic efficiencies of the processes are also elucidated.

Polarized targets need continuous cooling of large heat load during DNP at temperatures around or below 1 K. This can be achieved by continuous-flow refrigerators based on the evaporation of liquid 4He or 3He, or on the dilution of 3He by 4He. The refrigerator components have unusual requirements due to the large helium mass flow rates and to the demand of long uninterrupted runs of operation. We describe first the heat transfer mechanisms from the solid target material to the coolant fluid, and then evaluate the various cooling cycles in detail. The heat loads, ranging from some W/cm3 to some tens of μW/cm3, and the choice of the cooling method, are evaluated, before discussing the design of other cryogenic parts of the apparatus, including the precooling heat exchangers, thermometry and other instrumentation, and the pump and gas purification systems.