Final answer:
No, a power plant with a higher thermal efficiency does not necessarily have a higher 2nd law efficiency. According to the second law of thermodynamics, energy output can never be more than the energy input.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks whether a power plant with a higher thermal efficiency also has a higher second law efficiency. The answer to this question is No. Thermal efficiency refers to the percentage of heat energy converted into work or electricity, while second law efficiency, also known as exergy efficiency, is a measure of how well a system utilizes the available energy to do work, considering the entropy production and energy degradation.
While a higher thermal efficiency does mean that a higher percentage of the input heat is transformed into useful work or electricity, it does not guarantee a higher second law efficiency. Second law efficiency takes into account not just the energy conversion but also the quality of energy and its alignment with the ambient temperature. It is possible for a power plant to have a high thermal efficiency but a lower second law efficiency if it generates a large amount of entropy or if the process is not well-matched to the environment.