A thermoeconomic indicator for the sustainable development with social considerations

Abstract The United Nations action plan Agenda 21 has represented a milestone toward Sustainable Development. On its 40th Chapter, it is introduced the requirement to dispose of an accurate and continuous collection information, essential for decision-making. Besides bridging data gap improving information availability, highlighted need sustainable development indicators, in order assess monitor performances countries sustainability. In this paper, we develop improvement new indicator, recently linking environmental anthropic footprint social industrial targets. Here, suggest link with Income Index, consider also condition people well-being. Our results consists present approaches sustainability; indeed, socio-economic considerations, quantified by Index Human Development engineering approach optimization, introducing thermodynamic quantity entropy generation, related irreversibility. way, two different indicators are introduced, Thermodynamic which quantitatively express viewpoint, goes beyond dichotomy between considerations on one hand scientific sustainability other one. So, result leads unified tool useful designing policies interventions next generations.