FEW Nexus Research Articles

Deliberations about a perfect storm – The meaning of justice for food energy water-nexus (FEW-Nexus)

The current global developments have the potential to cause a ‘perfect storm’ at the core of the Anthropocene: the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus. To discuss the ethical consequences of these developments, i.e., insufficient access to the life sustaining nexus resources, the analysis is focused on Rawls' theory of justice and its implementation in Germany with a special focus on the FEW nexus. Rawls stresses in his theory of justice the prominent meaning of institutions for a fair society to meet societal challenges and to meet the challenge of our time: a stable and just society.Hence, the realization of his ideas in Germany is scrutinized and income tax and value added tax are interpreted in the sense of Douglas North and John Rawls as institutions and formal rules of society. This paper focuses on taxes as the most important institutional incentive to organize and structure the political, social and economic cooperation and analyses how these incentives affect selected German households (all households, singles, single man and woman, and couples) with respect to income and FEW expenditures.The relevant income and usage data sample (Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe (EVS)) for Germany is used for the analysis of the distribution of income types, FEW expenditures and the revenues of income tax and value added tax, i.e., the main instruments to manage the challenges of the FEW nexus. Therefore two distribution measures have been used: the dispersion of income, taxes and FEW expenditures and their skewness. Five household groups were selected for this analysis: All households, all single households, the single women households, the single men households, as well as the households of couples. The EVS data sample allows the analysis of consequences of the current societal conditions on the various households and thus serves to provide a deeper understanding of the differences between singles and couples but also between single women and men.

Nexus thinking in current EU policies – The interdependencies among food, energy and water resources

In recent years there has been a major, policy-driven increase in research on the food-energy-water- (FEW-) nexus. Although the concept has played a significant role in much of the political sustainability debate since its emergence in 2011, it is increasingly criticized for its conceptual character and lack of practicability. To address the question of the concept’s application in the political practice of the European Union, an analysis of currently existing EU policies has been conducted with specific focus on implemented nexus thinking. To limit the scope of the study, policy documents were chosen from the major political frameworks within the directly nexus-relevant policy sectors agricultural, energy and water policy, most notably – but not exclusively – the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the EU Energy Strategy, and the Water Framework Directive (WFD), as well as documents which address the integration among those. The study included a total of 50 policy documents. An inductive research approach was chosen to derive a FEW nexus specific coding system for the computer-assisted, semi-quantitative and qualitative analysis of the documents. The results reflect the fact that, in the past, policy design has mostly been framed within sectoral mandates, e.g., for water, agriculture or energy. Cross-sectoral effects especially among all three nexus resources have only recently been accounted for and predominantly exist in the form of non-formalized statements of intent. The establishment of cross-sectoral thinking is most advanced between the sectors of agricultural and water policy, mainly driven by their respective and historically grown roles within the nexus system.

Resilient by design: the case for increasing resilience of buildings and their linked food-energy-water systems

The resilience of buildings and food, energy, and water systems (FEWS) to natural or manmade disruptions are closely linked. The resilience of a building goes beyond the safety of its structural elements and must include the resilience of its supporting systems and the services they supply. The resilience of FEWS, in turn, can increase through design elements of a building that affect generation and storage of FEW resources. In this commentary, I discuss increasing the resilience of buildings and their linked FEWS—improving their resistance, absorption, restoration, and adaptive capacities—through new integrated systems design practices. I begin with a discussion of the current state of building design at the FEW nexus. I then use the prior establishment and current use of sustainability design objectives as an analogue to developing and implementing resilience design objectives. I review progress and limitations of specific drivers for increasing resilient design practices, including economic incentives, regulations, extralegal programs and initiatives, and societal incentives. My recommendations for leveraging these drivers to increase resilient design include: for economic incentives, quantify the costs and benefits to make the business case for resilience; for formal regulations, specify increased building requirements with performance-based resilience objectives; for extralegal initiatves, integrate these resilience objectives with existing certification programs and award designs that address FEWS as an integrated network rather than as disparate systems; and for societal incentives, demonstrate public benefit to shift societal perceptions of resilience. Together, these actions will motivate the design of more resilient building and FEW systems to increase their longevity, performance, and robustness.

Understanding and managing the food-energy-water nexus – opportunities for water resources research

Abstract Studies on the food, energy, and water (FEW) nexus lay a shared foundation for researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and stakeholders to understand and manage linked production, utilization, and security of FEW systems. The FEW nexus paradigm provides the water community specific channels to move forward in interdisciplinary research where integrated water resources management (IWRM) has fallen short. Here, we help water researchers identify, articulate, utilize, and extend our disciplinary strengths within the broader FEW communities, while informing scientists in the food and energy domains about our unique skillset. This paper explores the relevance of existing and ongoing scholarship within the water community, as well as current research needs, for understanding FEW processes and systems and implementing FEW solutions through innovations in technologies, infrastructures, and policies. Following the historical efforts in IWRM, hydrologists, water resources engineers, economists, and policy analysts are provided opportunities for interdisciplinary studies among themselves and in collaboration with energy and food communities, united by a common path to achieve sustainability development goals.

Integrated Assessment Models of the Food, Energy, and Water Nexus: A Review and an Outline of Research Needs

Food, energy, and water (FEW) systems play a fundamental role in determining societal health and economic well-being. However, current and expected changes in climate, population, and land use place these systems under considerable stress. To improve policies that target these challenges, this review highlights the need for integrating biophysical and economic models of the FEW nexus. We discuss advancements in modeling individual components that comprise this system and outline fundamental research needs for these individual areas as well as for model integration. Though great strides have been made in individual and integrated modeling, we nevertheless find a considerable need for improved integration of economic decision-making with biophysical models. We also highlight a need for improved model validation.

Exploring citizens' support for policy tools at the food, energy, water nexus

The food, energy, and water (FEW) nexus is attracting the attention of scholars throughout the fields of engineering, biological sciences, and public policy, among others. However, one important piece missing from the research is an understanding of the types of FEW‐related policies citizens support and the factors that drive public support for those policies. As reported in this article, data from a nationally representative survey of the adult U.S. population show that the public's support for different policy tools varies. To understand more about the public's preferences, we use a series of analytic techniques including factor analysis and factor score regressions to test possible explanations for these preferences. We find that citizens’ knowledge about FEW nexus issues increases their support of policies for managing food, energy, water resources; broad concern for the environment also increases support. The public's preferences are also influenced by political ideology, political party identification, and education. These results contribute to an understanding of the public's potential willingness to embrace the role government can play in addressing FEW nexus issues. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 37: 148–154, 2018

The food‐energy‐water nexus: Transforming science for society

AbstractEmerging interdisciplinary science efforts are providing new understanding of the interdependence of food, energy, and water (FEW) systems. These science advances, in turn, provide critical information for coordinated management to improve the affordability, reliability, and environmental sustainability of FEW systems. Here we describe the current state of the FEW nexus and approaches to managing resource conflicts through reducing demand and increasing supplies, storage, and transport. Despite significant advances within the past decade, there are still many challenges for the scientific community. Key challenges are the need for interdisciplinary science related to the FEW nexus; ground‐based monitoring and modeling at local‐to‐regional scales; incorporating human and institutional behavior in models; partnerships among universities, industry, and government to develop policy relevant data; and systems modeling to evaluate trade‐offs associated with FEW decisions.

The FEW-Nexus city index – Measuring urban resilience

Current global developments put increasing ecological, economic and social pressures on urban systems. The density of urban areas concentrates these pressures especially on food, energy and water (i.e., the FEW nexus) resources as if in a ‘burning glass’. The ability to confront these challenges significantly depends on the resilience of an urban area, which is to a large degree managed by institutions with the objective of protecting social cohesion and minimizing ecological pressure. Urbanization and climate change, however, strain social cohesion by exacerbating social vulnerabilities and disproportionately affecting those already marginalized. Justice and equity are thus essential preconditions for the development of resilient urban concepts and must be considered in a comprehensive nexus management approach. For this purpose, two indices are developed based on the UN-Habitat City Prosperity Index, with a specific focus on integrating the nexus-relevant indices (i.e., the infrastructure development index and the environmental sustainability index) with a weighted equity index. The World and Region Prosperity City Index (WCPI, RCPI5) and the Nexus City Index (NXI) enable decision makers to more readily compare global and local city resiliences without reducing the underlying complexity of the analyzed FEW system.

The Food-Energy-Water Security Nexus: Definitions, Policies, and Methods in an Application to Malawi and Mozambique

This study summarizes the concept of the food-energy-water security nexus (FEW nexus). The aim is to create awareness about the importance of the nexus and to enable stakeholders to consider interconnections between the sectors in their work. The FEW nexus is discussed in the context of Africa south of the Sahara (SSA)—using Malawi and Mozambique as case studies. Even though analyzing food, energy, and water security issues simultaneously is critical given the interconnections, summarizing interventions with the FEW nexus approach in Malawi and Mozambique, we found that there are only a limited number of interventions in place. Additionally, this study reviews macro- and microeconomic models that are able to analyze the FEW nexus. On the macrolevel, especially general equilibrium models are discussed, because they show trade-offs and synergies of nexus interventions at all economic levels. These models can help guide policymakers’ understanding of nexus effects ex ante and convince them to think beyond their respective political departments. On the microlevel, the impact of nexus interventions can be assessed with qualitative and quantitative approaches. There are specific challenges for nexus interventions when it comes to aggregation and planning of the targeting. A secondary data analysis of nexus interventions shows that existing data is not sufficient to conduct research specifically related to the FEW nexus. The results of this study will help research programs to reflect the key questions required to enhance adoption of FEW technologies and inform policymakers as they formulate policies that will exploit the strong synergies of food security, energy, and water investments.

Spatial computing perspective on food energy and water nexus

In the coming decades, the increasing world population is expected to grow the demand for food, energy, and water resources. In addition, these resources will be under stress due to the climate change and urbanization. Previously, more problems were caused by piecemeal approaches analyzing and planning those resources independent of each other. The goal of the food, energy, and water (FEW) nexus approach is to prevent such problems by understanding, appreciating, and visualizing the interconnections and interdependencies of FEW resources at local, regional, and global levels. The nexus approach seeks to use the FEW resources as an interrelated system of systems, but data and modeling constraints make it a challenging task. In addition, the lack of complete knowledge and observability of FEW interactions exacerbates the problem. Related work focused on physical science solutions (e.g., desalination, bio-pesticides). No doubt these are necessary and worthwhile for FEW resource security. Overlooked in these work is that spatial computing may help domain scientists achieve their goals for the FEW nexus. In this paper, we describe our vision of the spatial computing’s role in understanding the FEW nexus using a Nexus Dashboard analogy. From a spatial data lifecycle perspective, we provide more details on the spatial computing components behind the Nexus Dashboard vision. In each component, we list new technical challenges that are likely to drive future spatial computing research.

Development and application of integrative modeling tools in support of food-energy-water nexus planning—a research agenda

This paper outlines a research agenda on the development of analytical tools to support the analysis of integrated food, energy, and water (FEW) systems. The thrust of this agenda is on increasing awareness and building capacity on interdisciplinary data and mathematical modeling toward integrated planning and identification/evaluation of trade-offs and synergies in developing such systems. The research agenda consists of development of principles, algorithms, and model formulations for understanding and evaluating the potential of implementing FEW nexus approaches within a systems perspective. The proposed agenda also stresses the need for integrating areas of disciplinary expertise, the ability to identify and address shared needs of FEW stakeholders, and facilitating tailored analyses over different geographical regions and temporal scales. Outputs and products of this research are quantitative tools that focus on upstream sector planning in order to identify primary opportunities and constraints to food, energy, and water system development, indicating priorities for more detailed analysis as well as providing characterization of alternative system configuration that meet integrated FEW objectives. This research agenda should also result in an improved understanding of economic and social trade-offs among competing FEW priorities; responses to the research questions contained in this agenda are bound to support decision-making in integrated FEW system planning and particularly prioritization of FEW investments.

The interaction of creep and fatigue in lead-tin solders. (Dissertation): Hendrix, B.C.Diss. Abstr. Int. Sept. 1990 51, (3), 98 pp

The interconnectedness of food, energy, and water systems – commonly referred as the FEW nexus - calls for the integrated study of these systems to improve resiliency of these natural resources and adapt to our changing world. In this article, we explore the state of FEW nexus research in Guatemala to highlight progress while also pointing out future research needs. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify peer-reviewed articles and grey literature published on this topic from January 2000 to May 2020. Articles were reviewed and classified to identify the Guatemalan study location, type, topic, and data sources. Only a limited number of studies explored the interconnectedness of FEW systems; 26% of articles (36 out of 138) focused on two aspects of the FEW nexus, while 20% (27 out of 138) focused on all three aspects. Water issues were the most commonly studied, with drinking water, hydroelectricity, and wastewater management being frequently discussed. We also identified a low rate of primary data generation, with only 42% articles (58 of 138) generating new data, and greater emphasis of nexus research in the grey literature. The Guatemalan FEW connections revolve primarily around three separate yet related spheres: clean water and sanitation, climate change and renewable energy, and urbanization and modernization. Further expanding initiatives that simultaneously address these three spheres would yield improved understanding of the interconnected roles that food, energy, and water play in improving the resiliency of natural resources and reducing multidimensional poverty in Guatemala.