Unpacking the Water-Energy-Food Nexus from the regional to local level

1. Unpacking the Water-Energy-Food Nexus from the regional to local level Sustainable Sanitation Alliance 5 September, 2014

Unpacking the Water-EnergyFood Nexus from the regional to
local level
Sustainable Sanitation Alliance
5 September, 2014
Jakob Granit, PhD
Centre Director SEI, Stockholm
GEF Scientific & Technical
Advisory Panel
@JakobGranit

2.

The nexus – an analytical framework
Food-Energy-Environment Nexus
ENVIRONMENT
(WEAP, LEAP, GIS)
ENERGY
(LEAP)
WATER
LAND
(WEAP)
(GIS)
FOOD / BIOMASS
BIOENERGY
IRRIGATION, FERTILISATION, MECHNISATION
(WEAP)
SEI WEF Nexus Initiative , Huber-Lee et.al. In press

3. The nexus is scale and context specific

• Global scale
– CC scenarios, new climate economy, gobal compact?
Macro-Region scale
– Economic, social , trade, health, education, peace and security
– Building common objectives, norms and values - ”Energy union”
• National scale
– Policy cohesion to address multiple national objectives
– E.g hydropower storage as a lever intermittent renewable energy
Basin/Catchment scale
– Competition & tradeoffs between users: irrigation, hydropower, domestic
water supply
– Finding synergies and new win-win opportunities
Urban scale
– Resource stocks and flows external and internal, business models for
services
Based on Granit, J., et.al.. (2013). Unpacking the Water-Energy-Food Nexus:
Tools for Assessment and Cooperation Along a Continuum; Söderbaum, F., &
Granit, J. (2014). The Political Economy of Regionalism

4. Macro-region scale: Southern African Development Community (SADC)

SAPP

5.

Catchment scale: Nexus research in
Lake Tana & Beles river basin, Ethiopia
Drivers
• Economic + population
growth, national growth plan
• Increased irrigation
development
• Subsistence to commercial
agriculture
• Foreign direct investments
into biofuels
• Hydropower development
• Environmental degradation
”Irrigation for food or hydropower for
energy production”?
”Change in HEP´operation rules for
multiple benefits”
Hoff, H., & Karlberg, L. (2013). A Nexus Approach for
the Lake Tana and Upper Blue Nile Basin. SEI, the Ethiopian Institute for Water
Resources, Bahir Dar University, Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU), IWMI,

6.

Urban scale: Resource based sanitation
value chain, Vientiane, Laos
Used as fertilizer after
treatment/processing
Septic Tank
Biosolid
Sludge
Harvested
plants
Discharge
Food and
Fibre
Wastewater
Biogas
Urban channels
Energy
Fuel or electricity
Urban centre
Urine

7. Conclusion – Nexus Value Add

• Increases the understanding of dynamic systems
taking multiple sector objectives into account
– Analytical approaches that are scale and context specific
– From qualitiative to quantiative analysis
– Linkages/challenges/options
• Contributes to assess governing options at different
scales
– Norms, institutional structures and options
– Policy coherence
• Identifies management options & innovation needs
– Resource planning
– Operational aspects, synergies & tradeoffs
– Solution oriented
SEI WEF Initiative, Huber-Lee et.al. In press