Towards understanding the integrative approach of the water, energy and food nexus

Al‐Saidi, Mohammad; Elagib, Nadir Ahmed

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.046

Cited by 264 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

115

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This deliberately stands in contrast to prominent thoughts in the WEF Nexus community (e.g., [19,21,53,54]). The unmanageable complexity of the WEF Nexus has been criticized (see e.g., [1,29]).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…The novelty in this approach lies in revealing tradeoffs and synergies to be considered in decision making amongst sectors aiming at food, energy and water security [ibid.]. There are some examples of analyses and methods to assess the WEF Nexus (see [20,21]); yet Cairns and Krzywoszynska report that there is a " . .…”

Section: The Rationale For Framing the Boundaries Of Resource Flowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Making the Water–Soil–Waste Nexus Work: Framing the Boundaries of Resource Flows

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The Sustainable Development Goals have placed integrated resources management, such as integrated water resource management, at the heart of their targets. The upcoming "International Decade for Action-Water for Sustainable Development", 2018-2028 has highlighted the importance of promoting efficient water usage at all levels, taking into account the water, food, energy, and environmental nexus. While integrated resource management approaches have been defined and applied for decades, nexus approaches are more recent. For these latter approaches to be implemented on the ground, their system boundaries need to be clarified. While the Water-Energy-Food Nexus focuses on sectors, the Water-Soil-Waste Nexus addresses linkages between environmental resources-namely water, soil and waste-to tackle sustainable management. In this paper, we analyzed integrated management systems and how their system boundaries are defined. From this we determined that in order for system boundaries to be applicable, they should be clear, wide and flexible. Based on this, we propose the boundary of the Water-Soil-Waste Nexus system. We use two case studies to exemplify the usefulness of these system boundaries.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: The Rationale For Framing the Boundaries Of Resource Flowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making the Water–Soil–Waste Nexus Work: Framing the Boundaries of Resource Flows

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some previous studies focused on the FEW flows and nexus in watersheds, cities, megacities and regions (Kennedy et al 2015, Endo et al 2017, Cai et al 2018, Gragg et al 2018, Taniguchi et al 2018, Yang and Wi 2018, which furthered our understanding of the internal characteristics of the system. Studies have also shown that changes in one system have profound effects on other systems, because of the interdependencies and interactions between food, energy and water subsystems (Hoff 2011, Al-Saidi and Elagib 2017, Scanlon et al 2017, Cai et al 2018, D'Odorico et al 2018. In addition, the external factors, such as rapid population growth, urbanization, economic development and climate change, will affect the production and supply of these resources and enhance the demands for food, energy and water (Hanjra and Qureshi 2010, Allan et al 2013, Seto and Ramankutty 2016, Qin et al 2019.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of urbanization on food-energy-water systems in mega-urban regions: a case study of the Bohai MUR, China

Deng

Wang

Gong

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The security of food-energy-water (FEW) systems is an issue of global concern, especially in megaurban regions (MURs) with high-density populations, industries and carbon emissions. To better understand the hidden links between urbanization and FEW systems, the pressure on FEW systems was quantified in a typical rapidly urbanizing region-the Bohai MUR. The correlations between urbanization indicators and the pressure on FEW systems were analyzed and the mechanism of the impact of urbanization on FEW systems was further investigated. The results showed that approximately 23% of cropland was lost, 61% of which was lost via conversion to construction land and urban areas expanded by 132.2% in the Bohai MUR during 1980-2015. The pressure on FEW systems showed an upward trend, with the stress index of the pressure on FEW systems (FEW_SI) ranging from 80.49% to 134.82%. The dominant pressure consisting of that has converted from water system pressure to energy system pressure since 2004. The FEW_SI in the Bohai MUR was enhanced with cropland loss and increases in urbanization indicators. Additionally, land use, populations, incomes, policies and innovation are the main ways that urbanization affects FEW systems in MURs. This study enhances our understanding of the variation in pressure on FEW systems in MURs and the effects of urbanization on FEW systems, which will help stakeholders to enhance the resilience of FEW systems and promote sustainable regional development.

show abstract

“…Despite increasing clarity that mismanagement of each component can affect the nexus (Bazilian et al, 2011;Al-Saidi and Elagib, 2017), the integrated nature of FEW systems is not currently reflected in their management and governance (Leck et al, 2015). To date, approaches to the FEW nexus have remained largely focused on one or two resource systems (Hussey and Pittock, 2012;Kajenthira et al, 2012;Pergola et al, 2013;Nair et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2017) or on loosely-coupled systems which incorporate flows between largely independent constituent systems (Grant et al, 2012, Howells et al, 2013Walker et al, 2014;Berardy and Chester, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovating at the food, water, and energy interface

Helmstedt

Stokes-Draut

Larsen

et al. 2018

Journal of Environmental Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Food, energy, and water (FEW) systems are inexorably linked. Earth's changing climate and increasing competition for finite land resources are creating and amplifying challenges at the FEW nexus. Managing FEW systems to mitigate these negative impacts and stresses is a pressing policy issue. The FEW interface is often managed as three independent systems, missing disruptive opportunities for streamlined integrated management. We contend that existing technologies can be reframed and emerging technologies can be harnessed for integrated FEW management, changing the way that each resource system operates within the broader system. We discuss solutions to three main challenges to integrating FEW system management: resolving spatiotemporal disconnections over multiple scales; closing resource loops; and creating actionable information. Sustainable resource management is critical for humanity, as well as for functioning trade systems and ecological health. Embracing integrated management in FEW systems would enable policy makers and managers to more efficiently and effectively secure critical resource systems in the face of global change.

show abstract

Towards understanding the integrative approach of the water, energy and food nexus

Cited by 264 publications

References 58 publications

Making the Water–Soil–Waste Nexus Work: Framing the Boundaries of Resource Flows

Making the Water–Soil–Waste Nexus Work: Framing the Boundaries of Resource Flows

Effects of urbanization on food-energy-water systems in mega-urban regions: a case study of the Bohai MUR, China

Innovating at the food, water, and energy interface

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About