Water–Energy–Food Nexus Simulation: An Optimization Approach for Resource Security

Abstract

The water–energy–food nexus (WEF nexus) concept is a novel approach to manage limited resources. Since 2011, a number of studies were conducted to develop computer simulation models quantifying the interlinkage among water, energy, and food sectors. Advancing a nationwide WEF nexus simulation model (WEFSiM) previously developed by the authors, this study proposes an optimization module (WEFSiM-opt) to assist stakeholders in making informed decisions concerning sustainable resource management. Both single- and multi-objective optimization modules were developed to maximize the user reliability index (URI) for water, energy, and food sectors by optimizing the priority index and water allocation decisions. In this study, the developed models were implemented in Korea to determine optimal resource allocation and management decisions under a plausible drought scenario. This study suggests that the optimization approach can advance WEF nexus simulation and provide better solutions for managing limited resources. It is anticipated that the proposed WEFSiM-opt can be utilized as a decision support tool for designing resource management plans.

Pre-Warning Measurement of Water Resources Security in the Yangtze River Basin from the Perspective of Water-Energy-Food Symbiosis

“…These not only studied the internal relationship of the water-energy-food nexus, but also extended to the external relationship between society, economy, and ecology. In terms of qualitative research, many well-known nexus frameworks have also been proposed in the analysis of the connotation and operating mechanism of the water-energyfood nexus [12][13][14]. In terms of quantitative research, pressure-state-response (PSR) technology, the matter-element model, step-by-step methodology, and the non-linear optimization model are applied in the sustainability research of the water-energy-food nexus [15][16][17][18]: The structure path analysis method and the data envelopment analysis method have been carried out to study the input-output efficiency of water, energy, and food [19][20][21]; Technologies such as remote sensing and integrated resource management are used in the research of safety and risk control of the water-energy-food nexus system [22]; The system dynamics model has been proposed for simulating the interaction between water, energy, and food [23,24]; The principle of synergy has also been widely used in the study of the water-energy-food nexus [25][26][27]; In order to deal with the uncertainties in waterenergy-food management, some studies have proposed multi-stage fuzzy stochastic models [28][29][30].…”

New Designing The Relationship Between The Water-Energy-Food Nexus With Environmental Objectives At The Basin Level For Sustainable Agricultural Management

“…Today, the water-energy-food nexus approach has been utilized via different dimensions in several studies under various objective functions in the form of optimization models (Jalilov et al, 2016;Dhaubanjar et al, 2017;El-Gafy et al, 2017;Stamou and Rutschmann, 2018;Zhang et al, 2018;Gonz´alez-Bravo et al, 2018;Si et al, 2019;Hu et al, 2019;Li et al, 2019;Liu et al, 2019;Zhou et al, 2019;Namany et al, 2019;Nie et al, 2019;Niu et al, 2019;Wicaksono et al, 2019;Sun et al, 2020;Ji et al, 2020;Falconer et al, 2020;Esmaeli and Roshandel, 2020;Yu et al, 2020;Medina-Santana et al, 2020;Sadeghi et al, 2020;Radmehr et al, 2021). For instance, Jalilov et al (2016) attempted to optimally allocate water resources in the Amu Darya River Basin using the concept of the water-energy-food approach through maximizing the net present value of the total benefits of agriculture and Hydroelectricity generated in the Rogun Dam.…”

“…An investigation of reviewing studies revealed that several methods have been employed to implement the water-energy-food nexus approach for optimal agricultural management. Most studies on the water-energy-food nexus in agriculture considered a combination of water and energy consumption benefit functions and environmental benefit functions as objective functions to design an optimal pattern regarding constraints of water and energy resources (Jalilov et al, 2016;Stamou and Rutschmann, 2018;Zhang et al, 2018;Li et al, 2019;Wicaksono et al, 2019;Ji et al, 2020;Radmehr et al, 2021). Nevertheless, some limited studies have been conducted in the agricultural sector and the basin level using a comprehensive index including water-energy-food nexus criteria (El-Gafy et al, 2017;Sadeghi et al, 2020).…”

“…In another category, such studies can be classified into studies with\without considering the environmental issues. Meanwhile, some studies have focused on the optimal planning of water and energy resources only in terms of objectives or constraints related to the water-energy-food approach without considering environmental issues (Jalilov et al, 2016;El-Gafy et al, 2017;Zhang et al, 2018;Wicaksono et al, 2019;Si et al, 2019;Medina-Santana et al, 2020;Sadeghi et al, 2020). Another category of studies has paid attention to the optimal management of resources, in the form of the water-energy-food approach, taking into account environmental destruction and pollution (Gonz´alez-Bravo et al, 2018;López-Díaz et al, 2018;Li et al, 2019;Nie et al, 2019;Namany et al, 2019;Radmehr et al 2021;Wu et al, 2021).…”

A Bibliometric Analysis of Food–Energy–Water Nexus: Progress and Prospects

“…Based on the above definition, research in FEW nexus is therefore derived from the research that combines FEW securities. Indeed, most FEW nexus research takes resource security as their main goal [13,14].…”