Sustainable planning of the energy-water-food nexus using decision making tools
Authored by Rembrandt H E M Koppelaar, Xiaonan Wang, Dam Koen H van, Nilay Shah, Niclas Bieber, Jen Ho Ker, Charalampos Triantafyllidis
Date Published: 2018
DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.11.037
Sponsors:
United Kingdom Department for International Development
Platforms:
resilience.io
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Flow charts
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Developing countries struggle to implement suitable electric power and
water services, failing to match infrastructure with urban expansion.
Integrated modelling of urban water and power systems would facilitate
the investment and planning processes, but there is a crucial gap to be
filled with regards to extending models to incorporate the food supply
in developing contexts. In this paper, a holistic methodology and
platform to support the resilient and sustainable planning at city
region level for multiple sectors was developed for applications in
urban energy systems (UES) and the energy-water-food nexus, combining
agent-based modelling - to simulate and forecast resource demands on
spatial and temporal scales - with resource network optimization, which
incorporates capital expenditures, operational costs, environmental
impacts and the opportunity cost of food production foregone (OPF). Via
a scenario based approach, innovative water supply and energy deployment
policies are presented, which address the provision of clean energy for
every citizen and demonstrate the potential effects of climate change.
The results highlighted the vulnerability of Ghanas power generation
infrastructure and the need for diversification. Feed-in tariffs and
investment into supporting infrastructure and agriculture
intensification will effectively increase the share of renewable energy
and reduce carbon emissions.
Tags
Climate
Integrated modelling
Design
Market
Optimization
systems
Life-cycle assessment
Challenges
Region
Policies
Climate
change
Energy-water-food nexus
Demand and supply
Energy
deployment policies
Resource technology network optimization