Beyond Efficiency: A Unified Energy Survival Law for Road, Freight, and Marine Transportation
Abstract
Classical energy efficiency metrics systematically overestimate real-world performance across transportation, biological, and engineered systems. This discrepancy arises because efficiency isolates individual components under idealized conditions, while real systems operate through sequential absorption, transport, conversion, regulation, and dissipation stages, each subject to irreversible entropy production. This study introduces a Unified Energy Survival–Absorption–Conversion Law, replacing efficiency with a physically grounded energy survival factor (Ψ) that explicitly accounts for irreversible thermodynamic losses. The survival factor is defined as Ψ=AE/(TE+ε),0
Fields of Study & Subjects
Maritime Transport Emissions and Efficiency
Vehicle emissions and performance
Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Technologies
Publication details
- Journal / source
- International Journal of Research
- Publisher
- EduPub
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 154–154
- Publication date
- 18 February 2026