Integrated Approaches
Cross-sectoral Issues and Integrated Solutions
Competition for energy, water, and food resources is a grand societal challenge of our time. With global drivers such as population growth, climate change, changing consumption patterns, and urbanization, there are ever increasing demands for reliable energy, clean water, and dependable food resources. These resources are inherently interconnected as land and energy are needed to treat and distribute water, land and water are used to generate energy and grow food and energy crops, energy and water are used for food production, and land use decisions impact land availability for human development and ecosystems as well as the availability and quality of water supplies.
As identified in the Bonn2011 Conference on the Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus, “in our interconnected world, sectoral “silos” are no longer acceptable ways to approach our targets, because solutions based only on one sector or discipline will unavoidably affect other sectors, whether by design or accident. Nowhere are the interconnections more evident—and critical—than in the water, energy and food sectors, because each is not only connected to, but is also dependent on, the others”. To ensure the health and prosperity of future generations it is essential that development is conducted in a manner that considers the energy, water and food sectors holistically. The energy-water-food nexus perspective offers a new paradigm of thinking that breaks down silos between sectors and uses an integrated approach to identify the challenges and opportunities that exist at the nexus of energy, water and food resources.
This section considers how development affects the three sectors of energy, water and food using an integrated perspective that accounts for both direct and indirect impacts as well as synergies. Integrated approaches include policies, tools and techniques that facilitate nexus thinking or problem solving. These resources can be used to inform analysis, planning and solutions development at national, regional, state and local levels.
Integrated approaches are solutions that include all three aspects of the nexus in their assessment and can be broken down into the following key topic areas:
Resources CESC
Publication
A Review of the Current State of Research on the Water, Energy, and Food Nexus
Sources:
Elsevier
Date:
1 June 2017
Publication
Agrivoltaic Systems to Optimise Land Use for Electric Energy Production
Sources:
Applied Energy
Date:
15 June 2018
Publication
Agrivoltaic Potential on Grape Farms in India
Sources:
Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments
Date:
1 October 2017
Publication
Aquavoltaics: Synergies for Dual Use of Water Area for Solar Photovoltaic Electricity Generation and Aquaculture
Sources:
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Date:
1 December 2017
Publication
Cities and “Budget‐based” Management of the Energy‐Water‐Climate Nexus: Case Studies in Transportation Policy, Infrastructure Systems, and Urban Utility Risk Management
Sources:
Environmental Progress and Sustainable Energy (AlChE)
Date:
3 November 2017
Publication
Climate and Water Resource Change Impacts and Adaptation Potential for US Power Supply
Sources:
Nature International Journey of Science
University of New York
The City College of New York
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Sandia National Laboratory
Date:
30 October 2017
Tools and Websites
Columbia Water Center: Water-Food-Energy Nexus
Sources:
Columbia Water Center
Publication
Concrete Thermal Energy Storage for Linear Fresnel Collectors: Exploiting the South Mediterranean’s Solar Potential for Agri-food Processes
Sources:
Energy Conversion and Management
Date:
15 June 2018
Publication
Energy Modelling and the Nexus Concept
Sources:
Energy Strategy Reviews
Date:
31 October 2017
Publication
Evaluation of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE): Volume 1, Evaluation Report
Sources:
CGIAR
Independent Evaluation Arrangement (IEA) of CGIAR
Date:
27 March 2018
Tools and Websites
Faces of Energy
Sources:
Energia
Publication
Food Processing Industry Energy and Water Consumption in the Pacific Northwest
Sources:
Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies
Date:
1 June 2018
Tools and Websites
Grace Communications Foundation: Nexus Food, Water and Energy
Sources:
Grace Communications Foundation
Publication
Identifying Critical Supply Chains and Final Products: An Input-output Approach to Exploring the Energy-Water-Food Nexus
Sources:
Applied Energy
Date:
15 January 2018
Publication
IRENA Southeast Asia Case Studies 2018
Sources:
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
Publication
Linking the Water-Energy-Food Nexus and Sustainable Development Indicators for the Mediterranean Region
Sources:
Ecological Indicators
Date:
27 April 2018
Policy Data
Publication
Tools and Websites
National Electrical Energy Conservation Program (PROCEL) (Brazil)
Sources:
World Resources Institute
Publication
Nutrition In The Trade and Food Security Nexus
Sources:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)