System Context: Global Change and the Food-Energy-Water Nexus
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 149, Issue 11
Abstract
Food-energy-water (FEW) nexus research emphasizes the links among food, energy, and water resource systems and is introduced as an attempt to overcome independent single-sector approaches that dominate the governing of resources today. Focus on multiple sectors and links among them is a key concept to the systems approach and methodology for its implementation by identifying and quantifying the connections between food, energy, and water sectors; modeling the FEW nexus system; and simulation of future management scenarios for decision-making assistance. This paper investigates the FEW nexus methodology within the system context by comparing simulation results obtained by the fully integrated model of global change, named ANEMI, and its modification, ANEMI_FEW, obtained by isolating nexus sectors from the rest of the model. Developing ANEMI_FEW requires breaking multiple feedback relationships that define the dynamic behavior of the modeled systems. A comparison of the simulation results confirms that the nexus model structure generates misleading results due to the break of significant feedbacks between FEW nexus and other sectors of the global change model. Obtained results are strongly suggesting that the nexus approach should be replaced with a more comprehensive structure of the global change model. The global ANEMI model is used as an example to investigate the research question. The findings generated by simulations of ANEMI and ANEMI_FEW are applicable to modeling at any scale (global, regional, or local).
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Data Availability Statement
The entire ANEMI model code is available from the Zenodo archive at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4483736 with details on running the model, modifying inputs, and viewing the outputs. This archive also includes all the data for scenarios presented in this paper, including the values of constants, initial conditions, and equations. The web version of the program, GCE (Global Change Explorer), is available at https://globalchange-uwo.ca/. The ANEMI_FEW nexus model is available on the Zenodo platform at https://zenodo.org/record/7402449. These sites were last accessed on March 23, 2023.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided to this research by the discovery grant to the first author offered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
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Information & Authors
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Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 149 • Issue 11 • November 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 6, 2022
Accepted: Jun 17, 2023
Published online: Sep 11, 2023
Published in print: Nov 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Feb 11, 2024
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