A heat engine operates between the maximum and minimum temperatures of 671°C and 60°C respectively, with an efficiency of 50% of the appropriate Carnot efficiency. It drives a heat pump which uses river water at 4.4°C to heat a block of flats in which the temperature is to be maintained at 21.1°C. Assuming that a temperature difference of 11.1°C exists between the working fluid and the river water, on the one hand, and the required room temperature on the other, and assuming the heat pump to operate on the reversed Carnot cycle, but with a COP of 50% of the ideal COP, find the heat input to the engine per unit heat output from the heat pump. Why is direct heating thermodynamically more wasteful?