Planning of Food-Energy-Water-Waste (FEW2) nexus for sustainable development

Abstract

It is critical for reliable infrastructure planning to address the Food-Energy-Water-Waste (FEW2) nexus at system level. This paper presents the applicability of resilience.io platform across water, energy and waste sectors (including food and agricultural waste) with focus on waste-to-energy pathway, aiming to establish the optimal FEW2 nexus based on economic and environmental indicators. A rich array of technology options, including water production facilities, clean energy technologies and waste-to-energy conversions are evaluated to meet the demand of water and energy (mainly gas and electricity), and the treatment requirement of waste and wastewater. A case study of Hunter Region, the largest region in Australia, is presented in this study, featuring the supply and demand context of developed countries. A full set of scenarios, including business-as-usual (BAU), water and wastewater, power plant decommission, waste-to-energy and policy intervention, is created to present FEW2 nexus from the perspective of individual nodes and the whole system. The results signal the benefits of biogas and syngas generation from anaerobic digestion and gasification for waste-to-energy pathway, alongside findings in water and energy sectors. The outcome of this analysis can then form the foundation of regional planning involving relevant stakeholders, with the modelling tools supporting scenario evaluation and collaborative learning to reach consensus in view of different performance indicators including financial and environmental metrics.

Dry Cowdung Powder - Novel Unearthed Humus: Sustains Water-Food-Energy Nexus

“…It offers an efficient means of managing waste that fits ideally with the needs of large population centers, while providing a source of alternative and renewable energy [25]. Waste-to-Energy (WTE) is a philosophy of energy production using the waste and its role in enhancing all interconnected nexuses, is gaining high importance in every nation [26,27]. 'Nothing of Nature is a Waste' and 'Waste is Green Commodity' aptly describes DCP and our research on its application proves its pivotal role in sustaining the Nexus.…”

Managing Conflicting Economic and Environmental Metrics in Livestock Manure Management

“…Process and systems engineering methodologies have been widely used in the field of environmental management to conduct systematic modeling and support decision-making over trade-offs. Applications reported include economic and environmental trade-offs in energy systems, [16][17][18] process optimization of waste processing technologies, [19][20][21][22] conversion of biomass to chemicals, 23 design and improvement in food-energy-water nexus and circular economy, [24][25][26][27][28] etc. Specifically for the organic waste management problem, supply chain network optimization has been used to describe and capture material transformation, logistical issues, and related economic and environmental aspects.…”