Normally, one considers heat transfer through a finite non-zero temperature difference irreversible. Radiant heat transfer, from the sun to the earth, takes place through a large temperature difference. Is the Lost Work term in the entropy balance just the reversible work that would have been done by a Carnot engine operating between the hot and cold temperatures, about 6000K and 300K in the case of the sun and earth? I wish to compute the maximum amount of reversible work that could be done on Earth powered by the sun.
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