Measuring urban food-energy-water nexus sustainability: Finding solutions for cities

Yuan, Mei-Hua; Chiueh, Pei-Te; Lo, Shang‐Lien

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141954

Cited by 69 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 66 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Therefore, nexus interventions should consider what purpose they are going to serve, whose interests are going to be prioritized and whose voices will go unheard. Many studies are motivated by the goal of increasing efficiency of resource use and supply, and they do so through the development of technical solutions (Sanjuan-Delmás et al, 2018;Yuan et al, 2021). However, within these studies there are far fewer that can be said to be actionable, as many do not consider the socio-politicaleconomic intricacies of implementation (Villarroel Walker et al, 2017).…”

Section: Why?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The water-energy-food nexus is now a popular approach in the sustainability field. However, whereas the nexus calls for more holistic, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches, the research produced over the past decade has been fragmented and specialized. Furthermore, there is still a gap between the nexus as a descriptive and analytical concept and its operationalization. Nexus research needs a shift from “thinking” to “action,” which we understand as the production of actionable knowledge. This paper delves into the literature and presents five “W” questions as an iterative heuristic for the nexus concept to encourage reflexivity and inter-and transdisciplinary dialogue, while aiming at the production of actionable knowledge. We draw on the literature to discuss the five “W” questions of the nexus, namely: (i) Why, in which we explore the purpose of nexus research for actionable knowledge; (ii) What, in which we explore the material aspect of the nexus and the interactions between water, energy and food systems; (iii) Where, in which we discuss issues of scale, interactions between scales, and the geographical context of the nexus; (iv) When, in which we consider temporal dimensions of nexus research with a particular emphasis on intergenerational trade-offs, and (v) Who, which focuses on nexus stakeholders and the importance of understanding issues of justice and equity. Finally, we discuss the connections and dependencies between the five Ws, reinforcing the importance for researchers to reflect on their decision-making and engage in inter- and transdisciplinary debate to enable nexus action.

show abstract

Section: Why?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Food-energy-water Ozturk, 2017;Zaman et al, 2017;Mabhaudhi et al, 2018Mabhaudhi et al, , 2019Mpandeli et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2018;Sahle et al, 2019;Simpson et al, 2019;Nhamo et al, 2020a,b;Bellezoni et al, 2021;Yuan et al, 2021 Water-energy-food-climate King and Jaafar, 2015 Items of these nexuses that are specifically mentioned in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals are listed in italics.…”

Section: Nexus Typementioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Services: A New Approach Toward Addressing Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

Knight¹

2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The physical environment provides resources and specific types of environmental services relevant to the maintenance of human livelihoods globally and with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa, including soils, food, and water systems. Previous studies on the shared nexus of such resources commonly view these as self-contained systems operating independent of their physical contexts provided by landscape-scale geomorphology and its related processes. This study critically examines the viewpoints adopted by such nexus studies with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa, arguing that these studies are reductive, considering only the shared disciplinary overlap (nexus) and not their wider contexts, and are based on only a limited understanding of the workings of physical systems. This study argues that considering the attributes of the physical landscape and its provision of environmental services provides a broader and scientifically-informed context for understanding of interlinked issues such as relationships between soil–food–water systems. Framing such “nexus” studies in this wider context can derive a better understanding of the connections between different elements such as soil, food, and water, amongst others, and with respect to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The concept of environmental services is therefore a more powerful tool to examine both the connections between physical and human environmental processes and properties in sub-Saharan Africa, and to address overarching environmental issues such as land degradation, soil erosion loss, water scarcity, and impacts of climate change.

show abstract

“…They found that sustainable development goals can save future water system infrastructure investments compared to the normal operating mode. Yuan et al (2020) analyzed heterogeneity and policy system of sustainability topics related to the water, energy, and food nexus for different cities.…”

Section: Applications Related To Water-energy Nexus Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficiency Evaluation and Projection Improvement of the Industrial Water–Energy Nexus in China Based on Network Data Envelopment Analysis

Liang¹,

Huang

Ding

2021

Front. Energy Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Water and energy are critical resources for human well-being. The quantification and explanation of the water–energy nexus is important to enrich our understanding of sustainable utilization of water and energy resources in a unified framework. Herein, from the perspective of production efficiency, this study investigates the water–energy nexus in China’s industrial sector by developing a network data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. Under two practical principles, we evaluate the water and energy usage efficiencies as well as give projection points in terms of industrial production and wastewater treatment processes for 30 provinces or urban areas in China during 2011–2015. The results show that the overall efficiency values of most provinces in the industrial water–energy nexus system are high although the efficiency value of each province fluctuates up and down in the sample period. When comparing two subsystems, for most provinces, the sub-efficiencies of the industrial production subsystem are relatively higher than those of the wastewater treatment subsystem under the economic priority principle or environment priority principle. Considering the projection points, the potential improvement space of the environment priority strategy is higher than that of the economic priority strategy. Based on the empirical results, relevant policy suggestions are provided to improve the provincial or urban industrial water–energy nexus system in reality.

show abstract

Measuring urban food-energy-water nexus sustainability: Finding solutions for cities

Cited by 69 publications

References 66 publications

The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

The Five Ws of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: A Reflexive Approach to Enable the Production of Actionable Knowledge

Environmental Services: A New Approach Toward Addressing Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

Efficiency Evaluation and Projection Improvement of the Industrial Water–Energy Nexus in China Based on Network Data Envelopment Analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About