Technology-oriented approach to quantitative assessment of water–energy–food nexus

Abstract

The quantitative assessment of water–energy–food (WEF) nexus is a vital tool to inform about the current status of the WEF nexus and the effects of any proposed WEF policy option or scenario. However, the quantitative nexus models necessitate a considerable number of intersectoral data, such as quantities of water used in energy production, energy used in water production and water and energy used in food production, etc., which are generally difficult to collect or most likely unavailable. Adopting a technology-oriented framework for water–energy–food nexus offers an important opportunity to overcome intersectoral WEF data availability and allows improved quantitative WEF nexus analysis. This paper presents a science-based technology-oriented approach for quantitative assessment of water–energy–food nexus. First, the conceptual framework and theory of the proposed technology-oriented nexus approach are introduced. Second, opportunities and practical considerations are then discussed. The approach is illustrated by a case study on Lebanon. Finally, we conclude our methodology and introduce further development.