MicroFEWs: A Food–Energy–Water Systems Approach to Renewable Energy Decisions in Islanded Microgrid Communities in Rural Alaska

Abstract

In recent years, there has been increased recognition of the importance of a nexus approach to optimize food, energy, and water (FEW) security at regional and global scales. Remote communities in the Arctic and Subarctic regions in Alaska provide unique examples of closed and isolated systems, wherein the FEW nexus not only needs to be examined to lend resilience to these vulnerable communities but that could also serve as small-scale test beds for a wider and systematic understanding of the FEW nexus. In this short communication, looking at the FEW nexus in Cordova, Alaska, through an energy lens, we introduce an approach (referred to as the “MicroFEWs approach”) that may assist remote communities in Alaska in making informed decisions regarding the use of renewable energy to increase FEW security. Our example uses the MicroFEWs approach to assess the impacts of increased renewable energy generation on FEW security in the community, more specifically to food security through potential changes to the community's fish processing industry. This approach can serve as a basis for investigating the FEW nexus in varying contexts and locales.

Integrative technology hubs for urban food-energy-water nexuses and cost-benefit-risk tradeoffs (II): Design strategies for urban sustainability

“…A more comprehensive illustration of existing nexus research is shown in Figure 6, in which black lines represent a focus on the study of a particular resource (e.g., food, energy, or water), yellow lines indicate the study of integrated systems with two principal resources, and gray dashed lines emphasize the interlinkages of subsections of different nexuses. In terms of focus and level of integration, 29 papers focused on the FEW nexus, but these mostly aimed to conduct general analysis and systematic review, whereas 10 papers focused on water (Larsen & Drews, 2019;Rosa & D'Odorico, 2019), 5 on food (Abdelkader et al, 2018;Neto et al, 2018;Zhang, Campana et al, 2018), 4 on energy (Yuan et al, 2018;Ahjum et al, 2018;Whitney et al, 2019), 9 on water-energy nexus (Engstr€ om et al, 2017;Wang et al, 2017;Liu et al, 2019), 2 on energyfood (Hanes et al, 2018), and 1 on water-food (Zhang & Vesselinov, 2017). The rest of the articles applied nexus research from various angles.…”

Applying the food–energy–water nexus concept at the local scale

“…Through observations and interviews in rural Alaska, we identified several qualitative examples of interactions involving food, energy, water and other factors. Our previous work 37 and experience suggest that the examples we present here are broadly typical of rural community systems around Alaska and thus illustrative of the potential of the nexus approach at the local level.…”

“…The MicroFEWs project examined the direct and indirect connections between renewable energy generation in isolated microgrids and FEW security in four rural Alaska communities: Cordova (population estimated at 2,343 in 2019 36 ), Igiugig (population 56), Kongiganak (population 523) and Tanana (population 216) 37 . Specifically, the project sought to develop a FEW framework for…”

The Food–Energy–Water Nexus: Security, Sustainability, and Systems Perspectives

“…Using a mixed method approach, Oerther et al (2019) then present how research on structural equation modeling can be enhanced using community-based participatory research, structured reviews, mixed methods, and professional education at the nexus of food, water, and health. Finally, the third section showcases two examples of how theories across the FEW nexus can be put into practice through showcasing nutrient recovery from wastewater for sustainable food projection (Theregowda et al, 2019) and decision-making for islanded microgrid communities in Alaska (Whitney et al, 2019). We hope that this special issue can contribute to the EES community new ideas for scholarly pursuit, bridging disciplines and domains to further FEW understanding.…”