Optimization of Regional Water-Energy-Food Systems Based on Interval Number Multi-Objective Programming: A Case Study of Ordos, China

Abstract

Water, energy, and food are the most important basic resources for economic and social development. In the context of global population growth, environmental degradation, and resource shortages, the interrelationship between the water, energy, and food has become increasingly important. In this paper, the city of Ordos in China was selected as a study area. Firstly, this paper sorted out relevant research literature and fully understood the concept of water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. Then, an optimization model of WEF system was constructed based on interval number multi-objective programming, which took the comprehensive coordination deviation degree of the WEF system security and carbon dioxide emission minimization as the target. At the same time, the optimization model was constructed with full consideration of constraints such as economic benefit, water resource consumption, energy production, food production and environmental pollution emission. The results showed that the production of coal, thermal power, hydropower, wind power, and food all show an upward trend. Among them, the production of hydropower has the largest change, and the food production has the smallest change. In terms of water resource utilization, food production has the largest allocation of water resources accounting for nearly 80%, followed by coal production, thermal power generation and hydropower generation. The smallest allocation is natural gas. In particular, the allocation of water for coal production and hydroelectric power generation has increased significantly. Finally, the policy recommendations were put forward to promote the sustainable development of WEF system in Ordos. The optimization research on the WEF system can help to ensure the WEF system security in Ordos and promote the sustainable development of WEF system, which also can provide reference for other regions.

An analysis of the relationship between water-energy-food system and economic growth in China based on ecological footprint measurement

“…Many scholars regard waterenergy-food (WEF) as a system (Bazilian et al, 2011;Dubreuil et al, 2013;Zhang & Vesselinov, 2017). With the rapid growth of the world economy, the demand for natural resources keeps rising, and it is expected that by 2030, the global demand for water, energy and food will increase by 30, 50, and 50%, respectively (Chen et al, 2020). However, water, energy, and food supply will face severe challenges due to the competition for land use (Haber, 2007).…”

Poverty–Food Insecurity Nexus in the Post-Construction Context of a Large Hydropower Dam in the Brazilian Amazon

“…Previous research explored the interdependence of water, energy, and food systems, revealing that hydropower can jeopardize food production through several channels. These include competition for the same water resources, a rise in poverty, and the emission of greenhouse gases linked to climate change, resulting in a decline in agricultural production [68,[76][77][78][79][80]. It is important to highlight that negative social and environmental issues emerging or increasing in the context of hydropower construction can undermine people's perception regarding this energy source, which puts the necessary energy transition from more polluting sources to renewables at risk [81][82][83].…”

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