Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water (NeFEW): A Data Analysis Toolbox

Abstract:

Food, energy and water resources are intertwined in the most complex form. More than 70% of water resources is used in agriculture globally. On the other hand, abstraction, purification, distribution and disposal of water is intensively energy consuming. California, for example, uses about 19% of its electricity resources for its water supply system. Hence, modeling the complex interactions in the nexus of water, food and energy is crucial for human well-being and sustainable development. Here, we present an interactive analysis toolbox, Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water (NeFEW), that synthesizes available global data to enable modeling and analysis of these resources and their interdependencies at the country-level and for user-specified categories and quantities. This toolbox provides estimates of water footprint for several food types for different countries. NeFEW also approximates, for each country, the energy required for water supply and food production. NeFEW also estimates the emissions associated with different energy sources; provides a rough appraisal of water necessary to produce/extract/refine energy; and finally approximates the biofuel production of different crops. In this presentation, we show different example applications with a focus on water-food-energy interactions.