  Chemical processes in closed systems are poorly controllable since they
always relax to equilibrium. Living systems avoid this fate and give rise to a
much richer diversity of phenomena by operating under nonequilibrium
conditions. Recent experiments in dissipative self-assembly also demonstrated
that by opening reaction vessels and steering certain concentrations, an ocean
of opportunities for artificial synthesis and energy storage emerges. To
navigate it, thermodynamic notions of energy, work and dissipation must be
established for these open chemical systems. Here, we do so by building upon
recent theoretical advances in nonequilibrium statistical physics. As a central
outcome, we show how to quantify the efficiency of such chemical operations and
lay the foundation for performance analysis of any dissipative chemical
process.
