Developing Socio-Techno-Economic-Political (STEP) Solutions for Addressing Resource Nexus Hotspots

Bassel Daher, Rabi H. Mohtar, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, Kent E. Portney, Ronald Kaiser and Walid Saad
Additional contact information
Bassel Daher: Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Rabi H. Mohtar: Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos: Texas A&M Energy Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Kent E. Portney: The Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Ronald Kaiser: Water Management and Hydrologic Sciences Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Walid Saad: The Bradley Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: The challenge of meeting increasing water, energy, and food needs is linked not only to growing demands globally, but also to the growing interdependency between these interconnected resource systems. Pressures on these systems will emerge to become hotspots with different characteristics, and will require a fresh look at the challenges existing both within each of the resource systems and at their respective interfaces. Proposing solutions to address different resource hotspots must be multi-faceted and need to acknowledge the multiple dimensions of the biophysical water, energy, and food systems, and the players connected with them. This commentary first explores the multiple dimensions of water, energy, and food systems as these relate to government, business, and society. It then identifies contemporary critical questions at the interface of these stressed resource systems. A 3-Filter framework is then introduced for vetting the feasibility of proposed resource allocation scenarios and to account for the bio-physical resource interactions and trade-offs, the stakeholder interactions and trade-offs, and to address governance and financing schemes for carrying forward the implementation of those scenarios.

Keywords: water-energy-food nexus; resource hotspots; multi-dimensional resource systems; multi-dimensional players; multi-faceted solutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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