LibGuides: Water, Energy, and Food Nexus: Books and e-Books

Selected Books/e-Books

The Food-Energy-Water Nexus by Peter Saundry (Editor); Benjamin Ruddell (Editor)
Publication Date: 2020
This will be the first textbook on the integration of food, energy and water systems (FEWS). In recent years, the world has seen a dramatic rise in interdisciplinary energy and environmental courses and degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This textbook provides a substantive introduction to the food-energy-water nexus suitable for use in higher level undergraduate and graduate level courses and for scholars moving into the field of nexus studies without a strong background in all three areas and the many aspects of nexus studies.
Frontiers in water-energy-nexus -- nature-based solutions, advanced technologies and best practices for environmental sustainability by Vincenzo Naddeo, Malini Balakrishnan, Kwang-Ho Choo, editors
Publication Date: 2020
This volume includes selected contributions presented during the 2nd edition of the international conference on WaterEnergyNEXUS which was held in Salerno, Italy in November 2018. This volume gives a general and brief overview on current research focusing on emerging Water-Energy-Nexus issues and challenges and its potential applications to a variety of environmental problems that are impacting the Euro-Mediterranean zone and surrounding regions.
Food-Energy-Water Nexus Resilience and Sustainable Development by Somayeh Asadi (Editor); Behnam Mohammadi-ivatloo (Editor)
Publication Date: 2020
This book presents readers with an integrated modeling approach for analyzing and understanding the interconnection of water, energy, and food resources and discusses the relationship between resilience and sustainability of the food- energy -water (FEW) system. Authors provide novel frameworks, models, and algorithms designed to balance the theoretical and applicative aspects of each chapter. The book covers an integrated modeling approach for FEW systems along with developed methods, codes, and planning tools for designing interdependent energy, water and food systems. This book is useful for graduate students, researchers, and engineers seeking to understand how sustainable FEW systems contribute to the resilience of these systems and help policy and design makers allocate and prioritize resources in an integrated manner across the food, energy, and water sectors.
Policy and Governance in the Water-Energy-food Nexus by Anastasia Koulouri (Editor); Nikolai Mouraviev (Editor)
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Publication Date: 2020
This book discusses the balance of priorities within the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus and its impact on policy development and implementation, highlighting innovative perspectives in adopting a holistic approach to identify, analyse and manage the nexus component interdependencies. Due to increasing demands for natural resources, the WEF nexus has emerged as a response to the numerous global challenges. Addressing WEF challenges often involves balancing multiple and competing priorities and identifying and managing interrelations, synergies and trade-offs between the three components of the nexus. In this volume the authors focus on the dynamics between multiple stakeholders, such as governments, businesses, NGOs and local communities, when addressing WEF challenges by adopting a nexus approach. The book argues that effective engagement of multiple stakeholders can address difficulties arising from the introduction of an integrated approach to WEF policy design and implementation, increasing the potential benefits. The book also looks at the effect of international relations and regional power struggles on resolving cross-border WEF nexus issues. Case studies are drawn from Kenya, Central Asia, USA and Peru, highlighting key themes, such as how collaborative governance, enabled and facilitated by relational equity management, can be viewed as an innovative way to reconcile competing priorities. The combination of theoretical and case study chapters makes the book of interest to a wide audience, including scholars and advanced students of sustainable development, agriculture and food studies, water and energy policy design and governance, as well as to practitioners working in the fields of water, energy and food security.

The Water-Food-Energy Nexus by Jeremy Allouche; Carl Middleton; Dipak Gyawali
Call Number: J 338.9:A441w
Publication Date: 2019
The Water-Food-Energy Nexus: Power, Politics and Justice lays out the managerial-technical definitions of the nexus and challenges these conceptions by bringing to the forefront the politics of the nexus, around two key dimensions - a dynamic understanding of water-food-energy systems, and a normative positioning around nexus debates, in particular around social justice. The authors argue that a shift in nexus governance is required towards approaches where limits to control are acknowledged, and more reflexive/plural strategies adopted. This book will be of interest to academic researchers, policy makers, and practitioners in the fields of international development studies, environmental politics, and science and technology studies, as well as international relations.
A Systems Approach to Modeling the Water-Energy-Land-Food Nexus, Volume I : Defining and Analyzing the Landscape by Bernard Amadei
Publication Date: 2019
This two-volume set describes a flexible and adaptive system-based methodology and associated guidelines for the management and allocation of community-based WELF resources. Over the next 50 years, rapid population, urbanization, and economic growth worldwide will create unprecedented demands for water, energy, land, and food (WELF) resources. The discussion on how to meet human needs for WELF resources and how to guarantee their respective securities has changed over time from looking at all four sectors in isolation to understanding their interdependency through the so-called WELF nexus. The approach presented in this book responds to the overall agreement in the WELF nexus literature that the management and allocation of WELF resources at the community level need to be examined in a more systemic, multidisciplinary, participatory, and practical manner while seeking to increase synergies and reduce trade-offs. This book was written to explore the value proposition of that approach. Volume 1 focuses on defining the landscape in which the nexus operates and outlines the proposed methodology. Volume 2 explores the quantitative and qualitative modeling of the nexus and landscape using system modeling tools including system dynamics. It presents a road map for the formulation, simulation, selection, and ranking of possible intervention plans. The proposed methodology is designed to serve as a guide for different groups involved in the science and policy decision aspects of the WELF nexus within the context of community development. The methodology focuses mostly on WELF-related issues in small-scale and low-income communities where securing resources is critical to their short- and long-term livelihood and development.
A Systems Approach to Modeling the Water-Energy-Land-Food Nexus, Volume II : System Dynamics Modeling and Dynamic Scenario Planning by Bernard Amadei
Publication Date: 2019
This two-volume book describes a flexible and adaptive system-based methodology and associated guidelines for the management and allocation of community-based WELF resources. Over the next 50 years, rapid population, urbanization, and economic growth worldwide will create unprecedented demands for water, energy, land, and food (WELF) resources. The discussion on how to meet human needs for WELF resources and how to guarantee their respective securities has changed over time from looking at all four sectors in isolation to understanding their interdependency through the so-called WELF nexus. The approach presented in this book responds to the overall agreement in the WELF nexus literature that the management and allocation of WELF resources at the community level need to be examined in a more systemic, multidisciplinary, participatory, and practical manner while seeking to increase synergies and reduce trade-offs. This book was written to explore the value proposition of that approach. This two-volume book describes a flexible and adaptive system-based methodology and associated guidelines for the management and allocation of community-based WELF resources. Volume 1 focuses on defining the landscape in which the nexus operates and outlines the proposed methodology. Volume 2 explores the quantitative and qualitative modeling of the nexus and landscape using system modeling tools including system dynamics. It presents a road map for the formulation, simulation, selection, and ranking of possible intervention plans. The proposed methodology is designed to serve as a guide for different groups involved in the science and policy decision aspects of the WELF nexus within the context of community development. The methodology focuses mostly on WELF-related issues in small-scale and low-income communities where securing resources is critical to their short- and long-term livelihood and development.

Routledge Handbook of the Resource Nexus by Raimund Bleischwitz (Editor); Holger Hoff (Editor); Catalina Spataru (Editor); Stacy D. VanDeveer (Editor); Ester van der Voet (Editor)
Publication Date: 2018
In recent years the concept of the resource "nexus" has been both hotly debated and widely adopted in research and policy circles. It is a powerful new way to understand and better govern the myriad complex relationships between multiple resources, actors and their security concerns. Particular attention has been paid to water, energy and food interactions, but land and materials emerge as critical too.
The Green Economy and the Water-Energy-Food Nexus by Robert C. Brears
Publication Date: 2018
This book argues that a variety of policies will be required to create synergies between the water-energy-food nexus sectors while reducing trade-offs in the development of a green economy. Despite rising demand for water, energy and food globally, the governance of water-energy-food sectors has generally remained separate with limited attention placed on the interactions that exist between them. The Green Economy and the Water-Energy-Food Nexus will be of interest to town and regional planners, resource conservation managers, policymakers, international companies and organisations interested in reducing water-energy-food nexus pressures, environmental NGOs, researchers, graduate and undergraduate students.
Water, Energy, Food and People Across the Global South by Larry A. Swatuk (Editor); Corrine Cash (Editor)
Publication Date: 2018
This collection critically engages the resource use nexus. Clearly, a nexus-approach to resource policy, planning and practice is essential if sustainable development goals are to be met. In particular, in an era of climate change, an integrated approach to water, energy and agriculture is imperative. Agriculture accounts for 70% of global water withdrawals, food production accounts for 30% of global energy use and a rising global population requires more of everything. As shown in this collection, scholars of resource development, governance and management are 'nexus sensitive', utilizing a sort of 'nexus sensibility' in their work as it focuses on the needs of people particularly, but not only, in the global South.
Food, Energy and Water Sustainability: Emergent Governance Strategies by Laura M. Pereira (Editor); Caitlin A. McElroy (Editor); Alexandra Littaye (Editor); Alexandra M. Girard (Editor)
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Publication Date: 2018
Societies around the world face an increasingly uncertain future as social and ecological changes create pressure on resource governance, and this uncertainty calls for new models that illuminate the intersections of civil society, public sector, and private sector resource management. This volume presents a diversity of collaborations between various governance actors in the management of the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus. It analyses the ability of emergent governance structures to cope with the complexity of future challenges across FEW systems. Divided into two sections, chapters in the first half of the book present a collection of case studies from around the world exemplifying how FEW nexus challenges are addressed in a multitude of ways and by a variety of actors. Chapters in the second half offer broader perspectives on the management of FEW and underline the lessons that emerge from applying a FEW lens to the question of natural resource governance. The varied examples in this book highlight that the management of FEW is often a question of reinventing, adapting, and building upon existing practices. Such practices are deeply embedded in unique socio-cultural, environmental, and political contexts as well as 'hard' infrastructures. Most of all, this edited volume seeks to communicate the wealth of ideas from committed individuals who continue to work to improve natural resource governance and our sustainable futures.
The Water-Energy-Food Nexus by Aiko Endo (Editor); Tomohiro Oh (Editor)
Publication Date: 2018
This book highlights the water-energy-food nexus as one of the most important and fundamental global environmental issues facing the world. Climate and social changes are putting increased pressure on water, energy and food resources. As water is the central aspect within this cluster, the book focuses on the inherent tradeoffs in water resources between producing/consuming energy and food. In addition, it discusses an inter- and trans-disciplinary approach to understanding the complexity of the water-energy-food nexus system, and creating policy options to reduce the tradeoffs among resources. The content integrates a variety of academic disciplines, including not only the natural sciences (e.g. hydrology, coastal oceanography, costal aquatic bioscience, fisheries, environmental earth science etc.) but also the humanities and social sciences (e.g. marine policy, environmental energy policy, resource governance, policy process theory etc.). The book can be used as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate-level sustainability science courses. Further, its practical content and trans-disciplinary approach to addressing nexus issues with stakeholders offers vital information for practitioners and administrators alike.

The Water, Energy, and Food Security Nexus in the Arab Region by Kamel M. Amer (Editor); Zafar Adeel (Editor); Benno Böer (Editor); Walid Saleh (Editor)
Publication Date: 2017
This book investigates the need for a more open and interdisciplinary dialogue on the nexus of food, water and energy security in the Arab region. It argues that achieving sustainable economic development is irretrievably tied to the security of the water-energy-food nexus, which is in turn essential for bringing about sustained peace. Further, it discusses various approaches to achieving these lofty objectives, and offers the following take-away messages: The Arab region is currently under considerable water stress, and the situation will continue to get worse with a number of global changes - most notably those related to climate and regional water distribution. Viable solutions are available in the Arab region and can be implemented through innovative policies, judicious use of new technologies, and stimulating public opinion. Integration across water, energy, and food sectors is obviously needed but achieving it in practice is extremely challenging. There are some gaps in the scientific understanding but at the same time there is a wealth of data and synthesized information that can guide decision-making.
Peri-Urban Areas and Food-Energy-Water Nexus by Angela Colucci (Editor); Marcello Magoni (Editor); Scira Menoni (Editor)
Publication Date: 2017
This book explores the nexus among food, energy and water in peri-urban areas, demonstrating how relevant this nexus is for environmental sustainability. In particular it examines the effective management of the nexus in the face of the risks and trade-offs of mitigation policies, and as a mean to create resilience to climate change. The book delineates strategies and actions necessary to develop and protect our natural resources and improve the functionality of the nexus, such as: integrated management of the major resources that characterize the metabolism of a city, stronger coordination among stakeholders who often weight differently the services that are relevant to their individual concerns, integration of efforts towards environmental protection, adaptation to and prevention of climate change and disaster risks mitigation.
Water, Energy and Food Sustainability in the Middle East by Adnan Badran (Editor-In-Chief); Sohail Murad (Editor); Elias Baydoun (Editor); Nuhad Daghir (Editor)
Publication Date: 2017
This book provides a survey of technologies available to tackle the problems associated with climate change in the energy, water and food security nexus with a special focus on the Middle East. It is divided into three main sections. The energy Section consists of six chapters, the water section of seven chapters and finally the food security section has six chapters. The individual chapters are authored by experts and provide discussions and in-depth views on the current status of each topic.
The Water-Food-Energy Nexus by I. M. Mujtaba (Editor); R. Srinivasan (Editor); N. O. Elbashir (Editor)
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Publication Date: 2017
Exponential growth of the worldwide population requires increasing amounts of water, food, and energy. However, as the quantity of available fresh water and energy sources directly affecting cost of food production and transportation diminishes, technological solutions are necessary to secure sustainable supplies. In direct response to this reality, this book focuses on the water-energy-food nexus and describes in depth the challenges and processes involved in efficient water and energy production and management, wastewater treatment, and impact upon food and essential commodities. The book is organized into 4 sections on water, food, energy, and the future of sustainability, highlighting the interplay among these topics. The first section emphasizes water desalination, water management, and wastewater treatment. The second section discusses cereal processing, sustainable food security, bioenergy in food production, water and energy consumption in food processing, and mathematical modeling for food undergoing phase changes. The third section discusses fossil fuels, biofuels, synthetic fuels, renewable energy, and carbon capture. Finally, the book concludes with a discussion of the future of sustainability, including coverage of the role of molecular thermodynamics in developing processes and products, green engineering in process systems, petrochemical water splitting, petrochemical approaches to solar hydrogen generation, design and operation strategy of energy-efficient processes, and the sustainability of process, supply chain, and enterprise.

The Water, Food, Energy and Climate Nexus by Felix Dodds (Editor); Jamie Bartram (Editor)
Publication Date: 2016
In recent years the "nexus" has emerged as a powerful concept to capture these inter-linkages of resources and is now a key feature of policy-making. This book is one of the first to provide a broad overview of both the science behind the nexus and the implications for policies and sustainable development. It brings together contributions by leading intergovernmental and governmental officials, industry, scientists and other stakeholder thinkers who are working to develop the approaches to the Nexus of water-food-energy and climate. It represents a major synthesis and state-of-the-art assessment of the Nexus by major players, in light of the adoption by the United Nations of the new Sustainable Development Goals and Targets in 2015.

Food, Energy, and Water by Satinder Ahuja (Editor)
Publication Date: 2015
How will chemists of the future balance competing concerns of environmental stewardship and innovative, cost-effective product development? For chemists to accept the idea that environmental quality and economic prosperity can be intertwined, the concept of the food-energy-water nexus must first be integrated into underlying thought processes. Food, Energy and Water: The Chemistry Connection provides today's scientists with the background information necessary to fully understand the inextricable link between food, energy and water and how this conceptual framework should form the basis for all contemporary research and development in chemistry in particular, and the sciences in general. Presents a clear, quantitative explanation of the link between food, energy, and water Provides information not currently available in chemistry curricula or synthesized in existing resources Examines the challenges of the food-energy-water nexus from a chemistry perspective within a multi-disciplinary domain Includes the latest research on critical topics such as fracking, water use conflicts, and sustainability in food production cycles
Beyond the Energy-Water-Food Nexus by Will Sarni
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Publication Date: 2015
Providing food, clean water and energy for a growing population is one of the greatest challenges facing public and private sector professionals. While there is widespread recognition of the complex feedback loops between energy, water and food, there has been less focus on viable solutions. This guide by Will Sarni - an internationally recognized thought leader on corporate water stewardship and water tech innovation - frames the key issues and challenges for business professionals, and then outlines emerging solutions which include both "soft path" and technology innovation approaches. The book includes case examples of multinational companies who are abandoning business as usual and moving beyond traditional thinking. It also highlights crucial new partnerships or "collective action initiatives" where NGOs, multinationals and the public sector come together to forge practical solutions to meet the needs of their stakeholders. Solutions to the energy-water-food nexus will need to be disruptive, not incremental, and will require technology innovation, new public-private partnerships, and changes in public policy. Beyond the Energy-Food-Water Nexus shows organizations how they can play their part in improving the quality of life for an urbanized global population while preserving the ecosystems that sustain us all.
The Climate Nexus by Jon O'Riordan; Robert William Sandford; Deborah Harford
Publication Date: 2015
Secure supplies of water, food and energy are essential to human dignity and well-being around the globe. Their vitality is dependent on healthy ecosystems supporting thriving biodiversity. All four elements are inter-related in that actions to govern one will automatically affect the others -- known as the Nexus. Global demand for the first three elements is increasing due to population growth and rising per capital incomes in developing countries, with steadily worsening results for the fourth. The Nexus elements are also subject to increasing pressures from climate disruption in the form of more frequent and severe flooding, droughts, storms, pest outbreaks, and extreme heat. Nature's capacity to moderate these impacts is also being eroded by rapid, widespread land use development and associated pollution. The combination of increasing demand, decreasing supplies, and rapidly changing hydro-climatic conditions at all points of the Nexus requires transformative policy responses that encompass economy, equity, social justice, fairness, and the environment. The Climate Nexus outlines these challenges and offers a pathway to resolving them.

Selected Book Chapters

Keulertz, M., Sowers, J., Woertz, E., & Mohtar, R. (2018). The water-energy-food nexus in arid regions: The politics of problemsheds. In K. Conca & E. Weinthal (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of water politics and policy. Oxford University Press.

Kurian, M., Portney, K. E., Rappold, G., Hannibal, B., & Gebrechorkos, S. H. (2018). Governance of water-energy-food nexus: A social network analysis approach to understanding agency behaviour. In S. Hulsmann & R. Ardakanian (Eds.), Managing water, soil and waste resources to achieve sustainable development goals (pp. 125-147). Springer.

Midgley, S. J. E., New, M., & Methner, N. (2019). Competition for land, water and energy (nexus) in food production. In P. Ferranti, E. M. Berry & J. R. Anderson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of food security and sustainability (pp. 187-195). Elsevier.

Mosalam, H. A., & El-Barad, M. (2020). Design an integration platform between water energy nexus and business model applied for sustainable development. In V. Naddeo, M. Balakrishnan, K. H. Choo (Eds.), Frontiers in water-energy-nexus—nature-based solutions, advanced technologies and best practices for environmental sustainability (pp. 481-484). Springer.

Peterson, J. M. (2017). Water–energy–food nexus—commonalities and differences in the United States and Europe. In J. R. Ziolkowska & J. M. Peterson (Eds.), Competition for water resources (pp. 252-258). Elsevier.

Pharino, C. (2017). Sustainable challenges in the agrofood sector: The environment food–energy–water nexus. In R. Bhat (Ed.), Sustainability challenges in the agrofood sector (pp. 78-102). John Wiley.

Rasul, G., & Sharma, B. (2015). Water, food, and energy nexus in South Asia: Implications for adaption to climate change. In L. Filho (Ed.), Handbook of climate change adaptation (pp. 1329-1350). Springer.

Watkins, D., Shwom, R., Schelly, C., Agusdinata, D. B., Floress, K., & Halvorsen, K. E. (2019). Understanding household conservation, climate change and the food–energy–water nexus from a transdisciplinary perspective. In K. E. Halvorsen, C. Schelly, R. M. Handler, E. C. Pischke & J. L. Knowlton (Eds.), A research agenda for environmental management (pp.145-158) . Edward Elgar Publishing.

Book of Abstracts

Water perspectives in emerging countries: Water-energy-food nexus in MENA region, Mohamed Abu-Hashim, Mehmet Eyin Aydin (Eds.), November 11-17, 2018, Aswan, Egypt

Role of dams in water-energy-food nexus (S.Y. Kumcu, M.E. Aydin)
Water-energy-food strategy for sustainable development in Morocco (A. Dahchour, S. El Hajjaji)
Impacts of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on water, agriculture and energy sectors in Egypt (A.M. Negm, M.A. Elsahabi, M.S. Tayie)
Impacts of climate change on water and food security in Turkey (B. Topkaya, E. Karadirek)
Removal of arsenic pollution from groundwater in small villages, assessment of low cost technologies in Konya, Turkey (M.E. Aydin, S. Aydin, F. Beduk, M. Bahadir)
Constructed wetlands as smart combinations of water treatment and energy generation (E. Domscheit)
Assessing the potential of using solar photovoltaic pumping in irrigation: Case of the Tadla Region in Morocco (A. Hajji, K.A. Nombo)
Integration of solar energy, desalination and agricultural greenhouses (H.E.S. Fath)
Kinetic study for nitrate removal by nano zero-valent iron (H.I. Uzun, Z.B. Arslan, K. Ulucan-Altuntas, E. Debik)
Impacts of unofficial water reuse in Edko drain catchment, western Nile delta (A. Abd El-Moneim, A. El-Saadi, A. Abd Allah, A. Hassan, S. Abou El-Fotouh)
Study of physicochemical parameters of groundwater in Mohammedia Region, Morocco, for use in agriculture (S. El Hajjaji, J. Mabrouki, A. Dahchour)
Flood risk assessment for sustainable renewable energy generation; Case study: Egypt’s Red Sea Coast (A.M. Elmoustafa, A.M.O. Kamhawy)
Water uses and productivity in crop/livestock farms in a semi-arid region (M.T. Sraïri)
Assessment of water management in irrigation applications in the Karapinar Basin, Konya, Turkey (M.E. Aydin, S.Y. Kumcu)
C/N ratio mapping using geostatistics for variable rate technology application in Egypt (S.M. Shaddad)
Internet of things and cloud computing for smart precision agriculture (E.E. Omran)
Bio-treatment efficiency of different wastewater sources and its potential application on heavy metal reduction and food production (A.M.A. Merwad, A.M. Helmy, M.S. Abu-Hashim)
Grey water management in Jordan: Technology and future perspectives (M. Al-Alawi
Agricultural water resources management, environmental and financial evaluation – A case study (K. Güneş)
Urban sprawling in Egypt and its impact on land use reform (H. Soussa)
Utilization of unused wastewater for fodder production in Jordan (A. Jiries)
Water footprint of sugarcane crop in Egypt (A. Ghandour, A.A. Farag, A. Swelam)
Energy for water in Jordan’s water sector (A. Al-Omari)
Wastewater/waste to energy in MENA Region - A review of opportunities (Z. Abou Elnaga)
A review on smart city concept and smart water management (I.E. Karadirek, B. Topkaya)
Lake management under the stress of climate change and agricultural water use: Beyşehir Lake, Turkey (A. Dogan, A.S. Şanlı)