The food‐energy‐water nexus: Transforming science for society

TLDR

Interdisciplinary research has advanced understanding of the interdependence of food, energy, and water systems, offering insights for coordinated management of affordability, reliability, and sustainability, yet significant challenges remain. The study aims to describe the current state of the FEW nexus and propose approaches to manage resource conflicts by reducing demand and increasing supplies, storage, and transport. The authors review strategies for demand reduction and supply expansion, while highlighting challenges such as interdisciplinary integration, local‑to‑regional monitoring, behavioral modeling, stakeholder partnerships, and systems trade‑off analysis.

Abstract

Abstract Emerging interdisciplinary science efforts are providing new understanding of the interdependence of food, energy, and water (FEW) systems. These science advances, in turn, provide critical information for coordinated management to improve the affordability, reliability, and environmental sustainability of FEW systems. Here we describe the current state of the FEW nexus and approaches to managing resource conflicts through reducing demand and increasing supplies, storage, and transport. Despite significant advances within the past decade, there are still many challenges for the scientific community. Key challenges are the need for interdisciplinary science related to the FEW nexus; ground‐based monitoring and modeling at local‐to‐regional scales; incorporating human and institutional behavior in models; partnerships among universities, industry, and government to develop policy relevant data; and systems modeling to evaluate trade‐offs associated with FEW decisions.