The water energy food nexus – challenges and emerging solutions

Machell, John; Prior, Kevin; Allan, R. R.; Andrésen, John M.

doi:10.1039/c4ew90001d

Cited by 43 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…Water, energy and food are interlinked in what is referred to as the water-energy-food nexus. [1] These challenges are exacerbated due to the rapidly growing human population, leading to increased resource (water, energy, food and chemicals) consumption with concomitant production of large volumes of 'used resources', commonly recognized as waste. These 'used resources' could potentially represent an economic value if they are recovered.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual‐Function Electrocatalytic and Macroporous Hollow‐Fiber Cathode for Converting Waste Streams to Valuable Resources Using Microbial Electrochemical Systems

et al. 2018

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Dual-function electrocatalytic and macroporous hollow-fiber cathodes are recently proposed as promising advanced material for maximizing the conversion of waste streams such as wastewater and waste CO to valuable resources (e.g., clean freshwater, energy, value-added chemicals) in microbial electrochemical systems. The first part of this progress report reviews recent developments in this type of cathode architecture for the simultaneous recovery of clean freshwater and energy from wastewater. Critical insights are provided on suitable materials for fabricating these cathodes, as well as addressing some challenges in the fabrication process with proposed strategies to overcome them. The second and complementary part of the progress report highlights how the unique features of this cathode architecture can solve one of the intrinsic bottlenecks (gas-liquid mass transfer limitation) in the application of microbial electrochemical systems for CO reduction to value-added products. Strategies to further improve the availability of CO to microbial catalysts on the cathode are proposed. The importance of understanding microbe-cathode interactions, as well as electron transfer mechanisms at the cathode-cell and cell-cell interface to better design dual-function macroporous hollow-fiber cathodes, is critically discussed with insights on how the choice of material is important in facilitating direct electron transfer versus mediated electron transfer.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual‐Function Electrocatalytic and Macroporous Hollow‐Fiber Cathode for Converting Waste Streams to Valuable Resources Using Microbial Electrochemical Systems

et al. 2018

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“…Under the stressors of climate change, progressive urbanisation and resource scarcity, it is becoming urgent for governments, industries and organisations to secure access to water, energy and food. The corresponding provisioning systems are strongly interrelated [4], with approximately 15% of global water withdrawals used for energy production [5] and 70% for food production [6], while about 3% of global electricity is required for water provision [7] and 6% for food production [6]. The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus concept was presented at the 2011 Bonn Conference as an approach that can support the realisation of Sustainable Development Goals, by reducing trade-offs and encouraging synergistic integration across sectors to achieve WEF security for human well-being with high efficiency levels, while ensuring ecologically sustainable use of resources [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding water-energy-food and ecosystem interactions using the nexus simulation tool NexSym

2017

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The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus concept highlights the importance of integrative solutions that secure resource supplies and meet demands sustainably. There is a need for translating the nexus concept into clear frameworks and tools that can be applied to decision making. A simulation and analytics framework, and a concomitant Nexus Simulation System (NexSym) is presented here. NexSym advances the state-of-the-art in nexus tools by explicit dynamic modelling of local techno-ecological interactions relevant to WEF operations. The modular tool integrates models for ecosystems, WEF production and consumption components and allows the user to build, simulate and analyse a "flowsheet" of a local system. This enables elucidation of critical interactions and gaining knowledge and understanding that supports innovative solutions by balancing resource supply and demand and increasing synergies between components, while maintaining ecosystems. NexSym allowed assessment of the synergistic design of a local nexus system in a UK eco-town. The design improved local nutrient balance and meets 100% of electricity demand, while achieving higher carbon capture and biomass provisioning, higher water reuse and food production, however with a remarkable impact on land use.

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“…2. This plot provides a comparison of theory, r th from equation (7), with the corresponding experimental value, r exp calculated from 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 17/28 equation (1). Agreement of the model with experiment is demonstrated by the scatter of the data around the diagonal line in the figure.…”

Section: Data Listed Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Choice of Batch or Fixed Bed Adsorption Processes for Wastewater Treatment

Dichiara

Weinstein

Rogers

2015

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

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Newly emerged nanomaterials, such as graphene or carbon nanotubes, are of increasingly widespread importance in environmental remediation, especially in their ability to remove undesirable chemicals from hydrological systems. Despite recent advances, the high cost of these materials and the relative inability to regenerate them hinders their use at larger scales. While it is commonly held that adsorption in fixed bed processes is more efficient than in batch processes, the definition of efficiency needs to be examined closely. In this paper, we show that there exists a critical effluent concentration above which batch processes are more efficient than fixed bed processes from this perspective. This work proposes a simple method to choose either batch or fixed bed processes when the goal is to minimize the quantity of adsorbent needed to remove contaminants to below a specified threshold level. It also provides a systematic set of selfconsistency checks on experimental measurements that may be used for comparative studies of these methods.

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The water energy food nexus – challenges and emerging solutions

Abstract: Water, energy and food are the pillars upon which society can further advance. This note outlines some of the challenges and emerging solutions.

Cited by 43 publications

References 0 publications

Dual‐Function Electrocatalytic and Macroporous Hollow‐Fiber Cathode for Converting Waste Streams to Valuable Resources Using Microbial Electrochemical Systems

Dual‐Function Electrocatalytic and Macroporous Hollow‐Fiber Cathode for Converting Waste Streams to Valuable Resources Using Microbial Electrochemical Systems

Understanding water-energy-food and ecosystem interactions using the nexus simulation tool NexSym

On the Choice of Batch or Fixed Bed Adsorption Processes for Wastewater Treatment

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