Is the commercial sector of Bangladesh sustainable? - Viewing via an exergetic approach

The current study's main objective is to apply energy, exergy, & sustainability analysis and provide suggestions to improve the sustainability of the commercial sector of Bangladesh. Data from 2000 to 2014 is analyzed, and it is found that the estimated energy efficiencies range from 65.42% to 68.5%, while exergy efficiencies range from 10.79% to 11.49%. Depletion number, sustainability index, lack of productivity, relative irreversibility, waste exergy ratio, environmental effect factor, & environmental destruction coefficient are utilized as sustainability indicators. From the study, it is found that sustain ability index varies between 1.12 and 1.13, while relative irreversibility varies between 0.44 and 0.53. Lack of productivity is found to be higher for cooking appliances and varies from 3.52 to 4.06. Waste exergy ratio and environmental effect factor are found to be higher for electrical appliances. For electrical appliances, waste exergy ratio varies from 0.42 to 0.50 and environmental effect factor varies from 3.5 to 4.55. Environmental destruction coefficient reaches as high as 9.27. It is determined that Bangladesh's commercial sector is more sustainable compared to Turkey, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia but less sustainable than Norway, and Sweden. Utilization of energy efficient lighting, waste energy management, and replacing gas-fired cooking stoves with electrical appliances are provided as recommendations to reduce exergy loss. The study outcome reveals that increasing exergy efficiencies can ensure a sustainable commercial sector. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.