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Innovation for the Energy-Water-Food Nexus and Its Contribution to Sustainable Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 10041

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jill Engel-Cox

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), 15013 Denver West Parkway, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Interests: sustainability; renewable energy; environmental science; industrial pollution prevention
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Mr. Richard George Lawford

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Senior Scientist, NASA GESTAR/ Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA
Interests: data and information platforms, water security, W-E-F Nexus implementation, remote sensing, climate, applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Energy-Water-Food (E-W-F) Nexus (also known as the W-E-F Nexus and the F-E-W Nexus) provides a framework for the integration of planning, management and governance.  It also can provide a focus for innovation and technical development in resource management especially where the innovations address the interactions of two or all of the sectors or support multiple sectors.  Examples of areas where innovation is emerging or still needed include optimizing use of food, water and energy resources; national and global security of access to food, water, and energy; addressing environmental change and adaptations to change; enabling the achievement of SDGs by improving support for decision-making and indicator monitoring; integrated infrastructure for supporting multiple sectors, and enhancing the opportunities and benefits of new technologies such as biotechnology, robotics, AI and information technologies, among others.

This special issue is seeking papers that will discuss how new technologies and innovations can be used in the E-W-F Nexus. Examples of successes are sought that address issues that are raised in assessments and solutions that are being implemented within the E-W-F Nexus framework. The context of geographical and economic factors related to these innovations and the experiences in engaging implementation agents and communities to adopt these innovations and technical solutions are also welcomed. Papers that identify challenges and benefits of new solutions are also considered, especially where they assess administrative obstacles, ownership issues, policy barriers, and the limitations of technology.

Dr. Jill A. Engel-Cox
Mr. Richard George Lawford
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Energy-Water-Food Nexus
  • sustainability
  • innovation
  • energy security
  • water security
  • information and data platforms

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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26 pages, 37842 KiB  
Article
Energy Distribution Modeling for Assessment and Optimal Distribution of Sustainable Energy for On-Grid Food, Energy, and Water Systems in Remote Microgrids
by Michele J. Chamberlin, Daniel J. Sambor, Justus Karenzi, Richard Wies and Erin Whitney
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9511; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179511 - 24 Aug 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2569
Abstract
Food, energy, and water (FEW) are essential for human health and economic development. FEW systems are inextricably interlinked, yet individualized and variable. Consequently, an accurate assessment must include all available and proposed FEW components and their interconnections and consider scale, location, and scope. [...] Read more.
Food, energy, and water (FEW) are essential for human health and economic development. FEW systems are inextricably interlinked, yet individualized and variable. Consequently, an accurate assessment must include all available and proposed FEW components and their interconnections and consider scale, location, and scope. Remote Alaska locations are examples of isolated communities with limited infrastructure, accessibility, and extreme climate conditions. The resulting challenges for FEW reliability and sustainability create opportunities to obtain practical insights that may apply to other remote communities facing similar challenges. By creating energy distribution models (EDMs), a methodology is proposed, and a tool is developed to measure the impacts of renewable energy (RE) on small FEW systems connected to the microgrids of several Alaska communities. Observing the community FEW systems through an energy lens, three indices are used to measure FEW security: Energy–Water (EW), Energy–Food (EF), and Sustainable Energy (SE). The results indicate the impacts of RE on FEW infrastructure systems are highly seasonal, primarily because of the natural intermittence and seasonality of renewable resources. Overall, there is a large potential for RE integration to increase FEW security as well as a need for additional analysis and methods to further improve the resiliency of FEW systems in remote communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation for the Energy-Water-Food Nexus and Its Contribution to Sustainable Development)
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Review

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17 pages, 17086 KiB  
Review
Benefits and Critical Knowledge Gaps in Determining the Role of Floating Photovoltaics in the Energy-Water-Food Nexus
by Sika Gadzanku, Heather Mirletz, Nathan Lee, Jennifer Daw and Adam Warren
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4317; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084317 - 13 Apr 2021
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 6131
Abstract
Floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) systems have become an increasingly attractive application of photovoltaics (PV) because of land-use constraints, the cost of land and site preparation, and the perceived energy and environmental co-benefits. Despite the increasing interest in FPV systems, a robust validation of [...] Read more.
Floating solar photovoltaic (FPV) systems have become an increasingly attractive application of photovoltaics (PV) because of land-use constraints, the cost of land and site preparation, and the perceived energy and environmental co-benefits. Despite the increasing interest in FPV systems, a robust validation of their suggested co-benefits and impacts on the nexus of energy, water, and food (EWF) systems is lacking. This information gap makes it challenging for decision makers to justify its adoption—potentially suppressing FPV deployment. To address this gap and to help de-risk this PV deployment opportunity, we (1) review the suggested co-benefits of FPV systems with a focus on the impacts that could alleviate pressures on EWF systems and (2) identify areas where further research is needed to reduce uncertainty around FPV system performance. Our review reveals that EWF nexus-relevant co-benefits, such as improved panel efficiency and reduced land usage, are corroborated in the literature, whereas others, such as water quality impacts, lack empirical evidence. Our findings indicate that further research is needed to quantify the water-related and broader economic, environmental, social, sustainability, justice, and resilience co-benefits and impacts of FPV systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovation for the Energy-Water-Food Nexus and Its Contribution to Sustainable Development)
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