A Complex Systems Analysis of the Water-Energy Nexus in Malaysia

Abstract

Water security plays a crucial role in maintaining livelihoods, especially emerging economies. In Malaysia, understanding the inter-relationships of water within the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is at its infancy. This paper investigates the interactions of the water sector with energy sector in Malaysia, through the lenses of WEF nexus, using system dynamics. The first part of the research involves qualitative interviews with key stakeholders in the water sectors, which provides validation for the initial causal loop relationships built and qualitative inputs of the water-energy nexus through the lenses of the water sector. The second part of the research is a quantitative simulation of stock and flow based on four carefully designed scenarios revolving around Malaysian water security. Key findings include an apparent disconnect between the states and federal governments in managing water supply, poor economic sustainability of the water supply and services industry, and significant energy use in the water sector. On the other hand, environmental impacts stemming from the water sector is minimal. Streamlining water governance and revising water tariffs have thus been suggested as policy recommendations, where their implementation could propagate into downstream benefits for the energy sector.

Sustainability of an economy from the water-energy-food nexus perspective

“…In the context of WEFnX, security-there being enough availability, accessibility and sustainability for the use of these three essential resources-can be conceived as a unitary problem, since all the actors involved share a common interest in achieving security of the supply through efficient use of the resources (Tan et al, 2020). Nexus security is a very common approach in studies selected at a state, regional or city level.…”

“…Or to estimate the outcome of strategies for mitigating the effects of climate change and improving the sustainability of water use (Martinez et al, 2018) and changes in water management (Ding et al, 2019). This includes combining tariff policies for different uses (Tan et al, 2020), altering the water available for irrigation (Chen & Chen, 2020;Wu et al, 2021) or introducing uses for treated water (Chen et al, 2020a). Regarding energy, we find scenarios that address the impact of the introduction of renewable technologies and improvements in efficiency (Brouwer et al, 2018;Hardy et al, 2012;Wu et al, 2021), as well as the introduction of systems of carbon capture (Brouwer et al, 2018;Hardy et al, 2012) or different alternatives for the energetic mix (Govindan et al, 2018).…”

“…The system will also be subject to certain physical limits and allocation rules (Guan et al, 2020). The results allow some authors to simulate and assess diverse water management policies (Chen & Chen, 2020;Tan et al, 2020). At other times, the purpose of the model is to optimise water use for both food and energy production (Hu et al, 2019;Kulat et al, 2019;Naderi et al, 2021;Wu et al, 2021).…”

“…The inclusion of non-academic actors in research allows for the understanding of changing systems, connections to decision-making at a political or economic level, and even the importance and credibility of the results (Wahl et al, 2021). This participatory process can be implemented as a preliminary qualitative phase to acquire high-level information on the functioning and interactions of a complex system (Tan et al, 2020).…”

“…Interviews and workshops are used to identify interrelationships that determine the structure of the nexus in any given field (Martinez et al, 2018). At a later stage, this information can be applied to form a system dynamics model (Brouwer et al, 2018;Tan et al, 2020).…”