Chapter 8a - The Water-Food-Energy Nexus
Chapter 8a - The Water-Food-Energy Nexus
Water, food and energy are interconnected in what is termed a “nexus” relationship. The water-food-energy nexus is both a model for developing an understanding of resource pressures but also a framework for considering domestic and wider geopolitical conflicts. The resource security provided, in satisfying the needs of a population in any one resource area, directly impacts the resource security of the other. This can create tensions between different stakeholders at both the local and the global geopolitical scale. China's thirst for energy creates interesting domestic and international tensions and in Kenya, disparities in power mean that the most vulnerable people miss out.
The Interconnections of Water-Food-Energy
Food water and energy are closely interrelated. On average 70% of the global supply of freshwater water is used for agriculture. Water is used in various ways for power generation operations such as cooling thermal power plants, extraction and processing of fuels, and in irrigation of energy crops such as ethanol, which is derived from maize or sugarcane. The most obvious role of water in energy is HEP generation through dam and reservoir schemes.
The energy system is vital to food and water since it is used in pumping water from groundwater and river sources for irrigation systems. It’s required for delivery and transportation of water as well as processes of filtration, treatment, and return. Intensive farming methods rely heavily on mechanisation and chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides and huge quantities of embedded oil are to
be found in the food we eat not to mention the embedded water. The impact of heavy fertilizer and pesticide use has a detrimental impact on water quality. In addition, energy is needed for the processing, packaging and transportation of food.
Food supply is intrinsically linked to water and energy as already developed. Food is energy and drives human activity through human consumption. Great quantities of the global food supply are also given over to the production of animal feeds, such as soya and maize. These crops alongside land for pasture occupy 26% of the planet's land area and place huge demand on water and energy resources.
Understanding this complex interconnection and ongoing trade-off between resource use, across these three vital systems is vital to developing a more sustainable world economy. The Food and Agriculture Organisation states that: “The water-energy-food nexus has emerged as a useful concept to describe and address the complex and interrelated nature of our global resource systems, on which we depend to achieve different social, economic and environmental goals. It is about balancing different resource user goals and interests while maintaining the integrity of ecosystems”.
This complexity is wonderfully captured in the following model, developed in the article, Integrated Economic and Spatial Planning for the Food-Energy-Water Nexus, written by Louis Gallagher and Andrea M. Bassi. It shows how land scarcity, as well as land management practices e.g. fertilizer use, affecting crop yield and water pollution, could become bottlenecks for the expansion of local food production. Economic growth and population growth puts pressure on land food systems and ultimately put stress on local food systems. Limits on one part of the system have a knock-on effect on other parts of the system, which have the potential to cascade through to local food supply systems.
Attempt to make sense of the following diagram.
- What do you tjink the B and R loops represent?
- How does economic and population growth impact the model?
Consider how the following headlines and facts relating to water, food and energy interconnect as part of a nexus relationship
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Essay Question: Examine how the water-food-energy nexus helps to explain increasing resource tensions at a range of scales (10)
Water-Food-Energy Nexus in China and the Mekong Region
China is the second largest economy in the world behind the USA and has a growing population of 1.4 billion people. Its industrial north is both energy and water thirsty and with limited availability of fertile land and increasing rates of land degradation, producing enough food for its people is a constant challenge. China’s freshwater supply is also unevenly distributed. In short, the south has an abundance of water but this doesn’t help the booming population and industry of Beijing and its surrounding regions, which experience physical water stress.
Physical Water Stress
Over-extraction of groundwater and falling water tables are big problems in northern China. According to research by the Ministry of Construction, there are more than 160 areas nationwide where groundwater has been over-exploited with an average annual groundwater depletion of more than 10 billion cubic meters. As a result, more than 60,000 square kilometres of ground surface have sunk with more than 50 cities suffering from serious land subsidence.
A 2005 article in China Daily stated that out of 514 rivers surveyed in 2000, 60 ran dry from over-extraction. Water volume in lakes had decreased by 14% and wetlands have reduced in size. The most famous example of over-extraction is the famous Yellow River, over-extracted from dams and irrigation infrastructure.
A major contributing factor in China’s looming, freshwater crisis relates to its industrial output and the power demand. 23% of China’s water is used by industry. A study by Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs estimated that China’s total annual energy production is responsible for 61.4 billion m3 of water withdrawals, 10.8 billion m3 of water consumption, and 5.0 billion m3 of wastewater discharges in China. With China’s
energy production is projected to rise by 40% by 2035, and the corresponding increase in water demand will be huge with current water provision unlikely to be sufficient.
The Nexus relationship between water, food and energy is clear to be seen in China. The FAO model (click to expand) of the nexus is perfectly illustrated in China. Multiple factors combine to create water food and energy insecurity challenges. There are several key drivers of change, including population growth, rapid urbanisation, and changing diets. For example, increasing meat consumption. As well as land degradation from intensive farming and climate change. Any efforts to boost power output for industrial needs in China have a knock-on effect on water resources for some of its population, often with the most vulnerable people most exposed to water insecurity.
In order to manage this demand China has embarked on the construction of mega-dam projects and infrastructure construction at a scale humankind has never seen. These are used to transport water from regions of plenty to its northern cities. One such example is the Lancang-Mekong Dam Cascade. However, this project creates geopolitical conflicts that threaten security beyond Chinese borders,
Discuss how many of the drivers, of the water-food-energy nexus, shown in the FAO model can be seen in the China and Kenya examples developed below.
The Lancang - Mekong Dame Cascade
In order to satisfy the unquenchable thirst of the north, China has embarked on the construction of a series of hydroelectric power dams along the Mekong River, which in China is known as the Lancang. It has plans to build 21 more. From there an energy pathway is formed to its cities in the north. China’s Lancang cascade was planned to harness the river’s hydropower capacity to produce around 15,700MW of electricity, equivalent to about 70% of the combined capacity of the Three Gorges dam. This energy is urgently needed to maintain the industrial growth of the north. It also helps meet China's climate change commitment as it provides clean energy.
As a consequence, there is a major impact on water and food security for downstream communities in the five countries that share the Mekong.
It's difficult to pin this entirely on China. Although China's booming population and desperate need for water and energy is a major contributing factor. It is also exacerbated by natural variations in drought. But climate change may also be a factor leading to harsher and more frequent droughts in the Mekong nations.
Laos, Thailand and Vietnam are all experiencing increased droughts and water shortages. Laos's Mekong communities have seen a 45% reduction in crop yields as well as falling crop diversity. Water shortages along the Mekong have the potential to disrupt food systems and create food security. Half of Vietnam's entire rice production comes from the Mekong.
Geopolitical tensions exist between the six Mekong nations. The defunct Mekong River Commission, of which only 4 countries are members, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam with China’s refusal to join, has little influence over decisions. These countries lack agency to influence China decision making and the transparency of Chinese decisions regarding water release is not forthcoming.
Another food security issue concerns fish. Mekong communities consume double the global average of fish but fish stocks have fallen all along the Mekong, perhaps due to the erratic flow rate of the river that now fluctuates due to water releases upstream for HEP. The Chinese government has also been criticised for erratic and unexpected releases of water flow into the Mekong. There have been many incidents of communities losing riverside gardens, fishing boats and nets due to a sudden surge of water flow, perhaps from Chinese dams, although this is denied by Chinese authorities. In times of drought, Chinese authorities have been criticised for not releasing enough water.
In this example, the conflicting demands on water, land and energy are clearly illustrated. China's domestic water-food-energy nexus is complex and driven by different competing factors. Its attempts to solve the challenges of domestic resource insecurity at the national scale threaten the resource security of more vulnerable people at the local scale and beyond its own borders.
Water-Food-Energy Nexus in Kenya
Resource security can also be explored at the regional and local scale in Kenya. Resource pressure concerning food, water and energy has developed around government policies towards the Tana River and Tan Delta region. The river is drying up in sections, due to a government-supported hydroelectric power company diverting several kilometres of the river through underground tunnels to two dams. In this case, it is local villages that are left without water, forcing them to embark on two-hour walks to new water sources.
There appears to be a clear disparity in power between the Kenyan government, large energy companies and poor communities who are often illiterate. These communities are often underrepresented and have little say over decisions that impact them. With little-to-no water now flowing in the river their fields also go unirrigated, impacting crop yields and food security. No one in the government appears overly concerned with this. These dams create an energy pathway that provides for half of Kenya’s current energy production and with vital power required to drive Kenya’s economic growth, the food and water needs of several villages seem to be a trade-off the government is willing to accept. Unfortunately for the villagers, they have lost their water and have no optimism of ever enjoying the benefits of electricity, produced by the dams.
Further down the river, conflicts between pastoral farmers and arable farmers over access to land and water resources has at times turned violent.
Another government-supported project is in the Tana Delta. The project includes plans to start large-scale ethanol production for biofuel export. The export of this biofuel represents an international energy pathway that supplies biofuel to the UK as its demand for greener fuel grows. One such plan is the $230 million Mumias Sugar Company that plans to build on a 20,000-hectare site. The impacts will divert vital local water to irrigate the sugarcane crop. Other large-scale export crops in the region include rice and cattle. These examples create clear tensions between local farmers and food production and national government interests that support exports for foreign revenue. Local people experience increasing pressures to access land and water. Water is diverted to export crops at the expense of their fields and so local food systems are disrupted. The consequence of this is higher food prices in local markets and when 80-90% of your income is spent on food, any rise in price impacts your ability to buy it.
Government policy in Kenya towards protecting the interests of local farmers lags behind its policies to fund large-scale developments. Local people lack agency and influence over decision-making. Local civil agencies such as Nature Kenya as well as international frameworks such as RAMSAR can support local people and increase capacity but without government frameworks at the national scale, food and water security will continue to be threatened at the expense of national interests.
Global Energy and Geopolitical Tensions
Growing geopolitical tensions exist around the world concerning energy security. Energy is vital to the economic stability and growth of powerful countries. This economic pressure is also a critical aspect of geopolitical tension across neighbouring countries and regions. Russia’s militarization of the Arctic represents one global geopolitical hotspot. The Arctic boasts a wealth of gas and oil reserves that may in the future, due to melting glaciers become more easily accessible. As we have already seen, Russia leads the way among Arctic nations, in its exploration, access and militarization of the Arctic.
The Middle East region also continues to be of critical geopolitical importance to global powers such as US, and Russia and regional powers such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. Securing safe energy pathways from this region exacerbates tensions in international waters, recent years have seen piracy, shipping sabotage and confiscation of shipping including energy transport.
The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under President Trump also reflects the geopolitical importance of energy security to certain individuals and groups in the US. It’s clear to see that economic growth and energy security derived in the US from continued reliance on oil and gas is prioritised over carbon reduction and climate change mitigation certainly by 'business as usual' orientated political groups.
What best defines the term nexus?
Complete the following gap fill
The water- -energy nexus is central to . for all three is increasing, driven by a rising population, rapid , changing and growth. is the largest consumer of the world’s freshwater resources, and more than one-quarter of the used globally is expended on food production and supply.
The inextricable between these critical domains require a suitably approach to ensuring water and food , and sustainable agriculture and energy production worldwide
Agriculture food integrated linkages economic Demand urbanization security energy diets sustainable development global
Why are so many dams planned to be built on the Mekong River?
What countries sit on the River Mekong?
What impacts does dam construction have in terms of the nexus?
Approximately how many people have a dependency along the Mekong?
In recent year agricultural production in Laos has...
How much of Vietnam's rice production comes from the Mekong?
Name the Kenyan river where nexus disputes are occuring
What energy projects exist on the river case study in Kenya?
Identify the correct nexus conficts that exist in in the Kenyan case study
Link to energy-based nexus revision quiz