1. The water-food-energy nexus

2. Nexus? Considers how things are connected.
Water security, food security & energy security are all connected and interdependent.
A planning tool for implementing sustainable resource management

4. Water & food 70% world’s freshwater used in agriculture.
Freshwater needed to process foods.
Unregulated water leads to water wastage.

5. Use of Use of pesticides and fertilizers can contaminate sources of fresh water.
Contaminated water can reduce stocks of aquatic food (fish).
Deforestation to create farmland leads to climate change (rainfall & drought)
Water & food

6. Fresh water is required to cool thermal power stations that burn hydrocarbons.
Fresh water is required to power HEP schemes, to obtain geothermal energy, to extract energy from shale oil, and also to produce biofuels.
gases which are causing climate change. This includes changing patterns of rainfall & drought.
Water & energy

7. Nexus approach shows that a crisis in one element has consequences for the other two.

8. Water & energy Seawater is used in tidal energy.
Extracting hydrocarbons can contaminate groundwater sources of freshwater.
Burning hydrocarbons releases greenhouse
Water & energy

9. Energy & food
Producing & distributing food requires 30% of global energy consumption.
Rising energy costs lead to higher food production costs.
Energy is used in producing fertilizers & pesticides, running machinery and irrigating crops.
Food can produce energy - biofuels.

10. Rising energy prices makes biofuels more attractive to farmers who switch away from food production to increase profits.
Globalisation of food increases energy used to transport food inputs and products.
Increased meat consumption leads to increased demand for the energy required to produce the meat
Energy & food