  Understanding how biological homochirality emerged remains a challenge for
the researchers interested in the origin of life. During the last decades,
stable non-racemic steady states of nonequilibrium chemical systems have been
discussed as a possible response to this problem. In line with this framework,
a description of recycled systems was provided in which stable products can be
activated back to reactive compounds. The dynamical behaviour of such systems
relies on the presence of a source of energy, leading to the continuous
maintaining of unidirectional reaction loops. A full thermodynamic study of
recycled systems, composed of microreversible reactions only, is presented
here, showing how the energy is transferred and distributed through the system,
leading to cycle competitions and the stabilization of asymmetric states.
