Energy Food Nexus Research Articles

The water-land-food nexus of first-generation biofuels.

Recent energy security strategies, investment opportunities and energy policies have led to an escalation in biofuel consumption at the expenses of food crops and pastureland. To evaluate the important impacts of biofuels on food security, the food-energy nexus needs to be investigated in the context of its linkages with the overall human appropriation of land and water resources. Here we provide a global assessment of biofuel crop production, reconstruct global patterns of biofuel crop/oil trade and determine the associated displacement of water and land use. We find that bioethanol is mostly produced with domestic crops while 36% of biodiesel consumption relies on international trade, mainly from Southeast Asia. Altogether, biofuels rely on about 2-3% of the global water and land used for agriculture, which could feed about 30% of the malnourished population. We evaluate the food-energy tradeoff and the impact an increased reliance on biofuel would have on the number of people the planet can feed.

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.

The water–food–energy Nexus – Realising a new paradigm

Summary The water–food–energy Nexus has emerged as a new perspective in debates concerned with balancing potentially conflicting sectoral imperatives of large scale development investments concerned with energy, water or food security. Current frameworks are partial as they largely represent a water-centric perspective. Our hypothesis is that a dynamic Nexus framework that attempts to equally weight sectoral objectives provides a new paradigm for diagnosis and investigation. Dynamic refers here to explicitly understanding (or a diagnosis of) the dynamic relationships and ripple effects whereas static-comparative refers to a comparison of states before and after change. This paper proposes a balanced Nexus framework and presents results from an application to the Mekong basin. The analysis identified the advantages of a sectorally balanced, dynamic Nexus approach, in particular the ability to reveal either the emergence of cross-sectoral connections, or changes in those connections, as a consequence of single sector interventions.

Water–food–energy nexus in Chile: the challenges due to global change in different regional contexts

This paper modifies the traditional representation of the water–food–energy (WFE) nexus by emphasizing the flows or influences between components. This allows a better representation of the dynamic nature of the WFE nexus in response to global change drivers. It applies a conceptual figure to synthesize the status and future challenges of the nexus in four regions of Chile that are currently under pressure due to climate variability, relative water scarcity and strong competition for water from different sectors.

Mapping water provisioning services to support the ecosystem–water–food–energy nexus in the Danube river basin

Water, food and energy are at the core of human needs and there is a boundless complex cycle among these three basic human needs. Ecosystems are in the center of this nexus, since they contribute to the provision of each component, making it imperative to understand the role of ecosystems in securing food, water and energy for human well-being. In this study we aimed to map and assess water provisioning services and associated benefits to support the ecosystem–water–food–energy nexus by taking into account environmental flow requirements for riverine ecosystems using the hydrological model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). We developed a framework that includes indicators of renewable water (capacity of ecosystem to provide water) and water use (service flow) and we applied it in the Danube river basin over the period 1995–2004. Water scarcity indicators were used to map the possible water scarcity in the subbasins, and analyze the spatial match of water availability and water use. The results show that modelling is instrumental to perform the integrated analysis of the ecosystem–water–food–energy nexus; and that spatial mapping is a powerful tool to display environmental availability of water provisioning and regulatory services delivered by ecosystems, and can support the nexus analysis.

Drought or humidity oscillations? The case of coastal zone of Lebanon

Summary There is discrepancy in classifying Lebanon according to the different climatic zones; however, it is often described as a semi-arid region. Lately, Lebanon has been witnessing climatic oscillations in the meteorological parameters. The impact of these oscillations on water sector has been reflected also on energy-food nexus. Yet, there are a number of studies obtained to identify the climate of Lebanon, and they show contradictory results; especially these studies elaborated different datasets and applied diverse methods which often modeled only on large-scale regions. Therefore, the analysis of climatic data depended on complete and long-term climatic records that can be applied to assess the existing climatic status of Lebanon, as well as to assure whether Lebanon is under drought, humidity or it is oscillating between both. This study utilized considerable datasets, from different sources including the remotely sensed systems (e.g. TRMM). These datasets were interpolated and analyzed statistically according to De Martonne Aridity Index . Aiming to affirm the climatic attribute of Lebanon; however, ten climatic stations were investigated. They are with representative geographic setting and diverse time series in the coastal zone of Lebanon were investigated. Even though, Lebanon is known as a semi-arid region, yet results in this study show that the studied zone does not evidence any drought, since around 70% of the investigated years are characterized by semi-humid to humid climate. This climatic figure is well pronounced since rainfall rate exceeds 900 mm, average temperature rate is about 19 °C, and snow remains for a couple of months annually.

The water–food–energy nexus: an introduction to nexus concepts and some conceptual and operational problems

This introduction sets the scene for the special issue compiled by Martin Keulertz, Eckart Woertz and Tony Allan.

Food–energy nexus in Europe: Price volatility approach

The literature on food–biofuel price volatility spillovers is growing. Published articles so far have widely ignored nonlinearities and the influence of exogenous variables on volatility patterns. This article allows for these issues when characterizing EU biodiesel industry price dynamics. While Brazilian and US ethanol markets have been thoroughly investigated, less attention has been paid to EU biodiesel markets. Pure EU biodiesel and rapeseed oil prices are the object of our research. Two different methods are applied to model these data: a parametric approach and Long et al.'s (2011) semiparametric approach. Empirical results suggest significant asymmetries in volatility spillovers between pure biodiesel and rapeseed oil prices. Rapeseed stock levels and euro/dollar exchange rates are found to play a significant role in reducing food and biofuel price volatilities.

Ecosystem services for meeting sustainable development goals: Challenges and pathways

AbstractThe paper summarizes four presentations of the session “Environment and Wellbeing: The Role of Ecosystems for Sustainable Development” at the international conference “Sustainability in the Water- Energy-Food Nexus” held on 19-20th May 2014 in Bonn, Germany. The aim of the session was to present current stresses on ecosystem services imposed by global development trajectory, potential impacts on future Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and pathways to achieve SDGs. All four presentations agreed that global ecosystem services are under increasing pressure from degradation and may not be able to meet the growing Water-Energy-Food (WEF) demands especially for the developing world. Three examples from Tanzania, Cambodia and Niger made attempt to understand how government policies attributed to natural resource depletion such as forestry and common grazing. The examples showed that institutional policies favoring economic development contributing heavily to clearing up natural resource bases. As a result, there were increasing conflicts among different resource user groups. Two other presentations introduce conceptual pathways to achieve the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under current resource stressed regime. The pathways suggested global technologies, decentralized solutions and consumption changes as the major means of achieving global sustainability and poverty eradication without any major trade-offs.

Ecosystem services for meeting sustainable development goals: Challenges and pathways

AbstractThe paper summarizes four presentations of the session “Environment and Wellbeing: The Role of Ecosystems for Sustainable Development” at the international conference “Sustainability in the Water- Energy-Food Nexus” held on 19-20th May 2014 in Bonn, Germany. The aim of the session was to present current stresses on ecosystem services imposed by global development trajectory, potential impacts on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and pathways to achieve SDGs. All four presentations agreed that global ecosystem services are under increasing pressure from degradation and may not be able to meet the growing Water-Energy- Food (WEF) demands especially for the developing world. Three examples from Tanzania, Cambodia and Niger made attempt to understand how governance policies attributed to natural resource depletion such as forestry and common grazing. The examples showed that governance policies favoring economic development are heavily contributing to clearing up natural resource bases. As a result, there were increasing conflicts among different resource user groups. Two other presentations introduce conceptual pathways to achieve the targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under current resource stressed regime. The pathways suggested global technologies, decentralized solutions and consumption changes as the major means of achieving global sustainability and poverty eradication without any major trade-offs.

ICOPE-15-1045 Analysis of food production and energy nexus through a model proposed for multifunctional farms considering land use efficiency

ICOPE-15-1045 Analysis of food production and energy nexus through a model proposed for multifunctional farms considering land use efficiency

Environmental Impacts of Contrasted Groundwater Pumping Systems Assessed by Life Cycle Assessment Methodology: Contribution to the Water–Energy Nexus Study

AbstractMost studies on the environmental performance of irrigation have focused on the water–food–energy nexus, i.e. relationships between food production, water consumption and energy. However, water and energy are not the only relevant indicators of the environmental performance of irrigation systems. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a holistic method that is well suited to comprehensive assessment. This paper aims at using LCA to assess the environmental impacts of contrasted groundwater pumping systems in semi‐arid central Tunisia.In line with previous studies, our results confirm that for groundwater pumping, energy has the highest environmental impacts on human health, the ecosystem and resource depletion. Our work also highlights that along with pump efficiency, the type of power source must be considered when ranking pumping systems based on environmental performance.Indeed, diesel‐powered pumping systems are more harmful than electric pumps when electricity is generated from natural gas and diesel‐powered pump efficiency is low. However, the diesel pumping system becomes the best option when electricity is derived from coal and diesel‐powered pump efficiency exceeds 12%.Finally, water depletion has been shown of great importance in this study, and ongoing LCA improvements should facilitate a more comprehensive picture of these site‐specific impacts. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

WATER, FOOD AND ENERGY SUPPLY CHAINS FOR A GREEN ECONOMY

ABSTRACTA new paradigm for sustainable, integrated, water resources management is emerging from international conferences around the world. Its most succinct description is ‘the water–food–energy nexus for a green economy’. The water, food and energy nexus aims at the most efficient, best practice principles applied throughout the full food supply chain. This includes consideration of reducing wastage of the food for various reasons in the supply chain. This paper describes the global opportunities for better efficiency and resources conservation in the water, food, and energy supply chains with examples from Australia. Food wastage equates on average to 243 l day−1 of water per person in the food they throw away, which is 1.5 times the daily water use per person in the UK. The concepts of virtual water and water footprint can help in identifying opportunities to save water by targeting reduction of wastage of food that has the highest virtual water content. A green economy aims at achieving optimised supply chain objectives in a manner that espouses the sustainability principle, gives due attention to environmental concerns and helps with eradication of poverty and hunger. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The politics of African energy development: Ethiopia’s hydro-agricultural state-building strategy and clashing paradigms of water security

As key economic, ecological and demographic trends converge to reshape Africa and its relationship with the outside world, a new politics is emerging in the twenty-first century around the water-food-energy nexus, which is central to the continent's relevance in the global economy. On the one hand, Malthusian anxieties are proliferating; pessimists link population growth and growing water scarcity to state failure and 'water wars'. On the other hand, entrepreneurs, sovereign wealth funds and speculators consider Africa's potential in water resources, energy production and food output as one of the last great untapped opportunities for the global economy: Africa is on the brink of an agro-industrial transformation. This article examines how African actors are not merely responding to economic and environmental changes but also thinking politically about water, food and energy security. Many of them are seizing the new opportunities to redefine their national politics, their relationship with local communities and their ties with external players, regionally and globally. Ethiopia's project of hydro-agricultural state-building helps to identify the most important fault lines of this new politics at the national, local and international level. The politics of water security and energy development simultaneously puts African states and their populations on the defensive, as they grapple with huge challenges, but also provides them with unique opportunities to take advantage of a more favourable global configuration of forces.

Whaling and Wages on Alaska's North Slope: A Time Allocation Approach to Natural Resource Use*

Previous articleNext article No AccessWhaling and Wages on Alaska's North Slope: A Time Allocation Approach to Natural Resource Use*Joe Kerkvliet William Nebesky Joe KerkvlietOregon State University Search for more articles by this author William NebeskyDepartment of Natural Resources, State of Alaska Search for more articles by this author Oregon State UniversityDepartment of Natural Resources, State of AlaskaPDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Economic Development and Cultural Change Volume 45, Number 3April 1997 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/452295 Views: 8Total views on this site Citations: 11Citations are reported from Crossref © 1997 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Kawika B. Winter, Rebecca C. Young, Phil O’B. Lyver Cultural aspects of seabird conservation, (Jan 2023): 321–344.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-88539-3.00008-XAmy Lauren Lovecraft, Olivia Lee, Nicholas Parlato, Hélder Spínola System identity and transformation in petroleum jurisdictions: A multi-method approach for the North Slope Borough, Alaska, PLOS Sustainability and Transformation 1, no.99 (Sep 2022): e0000028.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000028E. Lance Howe, Lee Huskey Crossing Frozen Ground: Tiebout, local public goods, place amenities, and rural-to-rural migration in the Arctic, Journal of Rural Studies 89 (Jan 2022): 130–139.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.11.008Tobias Schwoerer, Jennifer I. Schmidt, Davin Holen Predicting the Food-Energy Nexus of Wild Food Systems: Informing Energy Transitions for Isolated Indigenous Communities, Ecological Economics 176 (Oct 2020): 106712.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106712James S. Magdanz, Joshua Greenberg, Joseph M. Little, David S. Koster The Persistence of Subsistence: Wild Food Harvests in Rural Alaska, 1983-2013, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2016).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2779464E. Lance Howe, Lee Huskey, Matthew D. Berman Migration in Arctic Alaska: Empirical evidence of the stepping stones hypothesis, Migration Studies 2, no.11 (Sep 2013): 97–123.https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnt017Matthew D. Berman Next steps toward an Arctic human dimensions observing system, Polar Geography 34, no.1-21-2 (Mar 2011): 125–143.https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2011.593302Matthew Berman Moving or staying for the best part of life: theory and evidence for the role of subsistence in migration and well-being of Arctic Inupiat residents, Polar Geography 32, no.1-21-2 (Mar 2009): 3–16.https://doi.org/10.1080/10889370903000356Diana G. Redwood, Elizabeth D. Ferucci, Mary C. Schumacher, Jennifer S. Johnson, Anne P. Lanier, Laurie J. Helzer, Lillian Tom-Orme, Maureen A. Murtaugh, Martha L. Slattery Traditional foods and physical activity patterns and associations with cultural factors in a diverse Alaska Native population, International Journal of Circumpolar Health 67, no.44 (Dec 2016): 335–348.https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v67i4.18346Jack A. Kruse, Robert G. White, Howard E. Epstein, Billy Archie, Matt Berman, Stephen R. Braund, F. Stuart Chapin, Johnny Charlie, Colin J. Daniel, Joan Eamer, Nick Flanders, Brad Griffith, Sharman Haley, Lee Huskey, Bernice Joseph, David R. Klein, Gary P. Kofinas, Stephanie M. Martin, Stephen M. Murphy, William Nebesky, Craig Nicolson, Don E. Russell, Joe Tetlichi, Arlon Tussing, Marilyn D. Walker, Oran R. Young Modeling Sustainability of Arctic Communities: An Interdisciplinary Collaboration of Researchers and Local Knowledge Holders, Ecosystems 7, no.88 (Sep 2004): 815–828.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-004-0008-zMatthew Berman, Gary Kofinas Hunting for models: grounded and rational choice approaches to analyzing climate effects on subsistence hunting in an Arctic community, Ecological Economics 49, no.11 (May 2004): 31–46.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2003.12.005