A novel design for an energy water and food nexus economy

Considering the State of Qatar, this proposal will look at the integrated nature of EWF resources and how they relate to the domestic and international supply chains for food security scenarios. The objective is to develop an innovative decision framework to manage the sustainable utilisation of EWF resources for food security, as a function of resilience, sustainability and security. Considering multiple objectives, the importance of this project is to correlate between different performance indicators required for food security assessment in times of uncertainty. This is especially true as geopolitical events of 2017 provided the impetus for food security, as traditional food import supply chains for the Qatar were shut overnight. Whilst there is a need to develop secured systems, there is also a need to design them such that they are resilient and sustainable. As such, a systems approach, which will be adopted in this project, will bridge multi-dimensional factors of food systems in a novel decision framework. The proposed project will consist of four main pillars: (1) Baseline characterisation of EWF resources within Qatar, (2) development of domestic EWF Nexus economies (i.e. decentralised EWF zones), (3) domestic and transboundary supply chains, and (4) food security scenarios and outcomes. Special attention will be given to the interdependencies between the EWF resources, therefore enabling the identification of synergies and trade-offs, and the optimum utilisation of resources. Furthermore, EWF systems will be considered with respect to their respective transboundary and domestic supply chains, in the context of an array of performance indicators. Considering global uncertainty, it is imperative that such assessment consider externalities that may directly or in-directly impact the EWF Nexus, such as climate change, geo-political risks, resource availability and economic fluctuations. The global food system faces a monumental challenge to meet the demands from a larger and more affluent population and doing so sustainably, this is especially true for arid regions. Food security has become particularly imperative in Qatar considering the geopolitical events of 2017 that led to a land, air and sea blockade on Qatar which has only served to increase the national goals of security in supply and self-sufficiency. Security in this regard comes in two forms, the ability of a nation to: (1) secure with efficiency and continuity, the supplies it needs from overseas markets; and (2) to satisfy a level of self-sufficiency for a range of products. However, considering the fact that Qatar imports over 90 % of its food requirements from overseas markets, it is necessary that initiatives pertaining to enhancing food security for Qatar are based on principles of sustainability and resilience. Qatar is located in a hyper arid region and is characterised by a disproportionate distribution of resources. Whilst its energy resources are vast, its natural fresh water supplies are far below the global average. As such, the challenge going forward is how to make effective decisions in the management of resources and corresponding systems that are subjected to risks and uncertainties. The need to ensure the availability of food products is a matter of security. Representing Qatar’s food consumption, a unique approach to food security will be developed using integrated systems thinking, optimisation techniques, game theory and risk assessment under uncertainty which will enable policy makers to make informed decisions for food security. Considering the need for sustainable development in a world which is challenged by climate change and resource depletion, the efficient utilisation of EWF resources is becoming increasingly important. Incidentally, the existence of the interdependence amongst the EWF sectors is primarily based on the spatial-temporal characteristics of the resources that are available both within and across national boundaries. Whilst there is a demand to ensure the availability of food products within Qatar, it is necessary to consider the supply drivers which can hinder the availability of food, i.e. importing supply chains may interrupted due to geopolitical or market conditions. The outcome of this work is to develop a tool that will produce innovative performance indicators that quantify the resilience of the integrated sub-systems and supply chains that constitute the EWF Nexus for food security scenarios. The outcome of this work will yield an innovative approach to food security built upon resilience and sustainability. It will integrate both transboundary and local supply chain networks in one optimised holistic system with consideration for the environment, economy and security. In doing so, it will create the blueprint for a highly efficient EWF Nexus economy built on the fundamentals of decentralised systems. The modelling of the domestic EWF Nexus economies will include the development of various sub-systems representing EWF resource sectors. Beyond, the conventional sub-systems operating in a business as usual scenario, consideration will be given to the potential to harness waste streams to enhance food production systems which would have otherwise been harmfully released to the environment, such as biomass, CO2 and wastewater. The proposed project will be approached from a strong multi-disciplinary perspective, and hence the project team consists of expertise in process systems engineering and optimisation, operations research, machine learning and analytics. The team consists of world leading researchers in their respective disciplines working both in Qatar and the United States, offering opportunities for interaction between multiple skillsets and research environments. This international cooperation ensures that all required knowledge and skills sets required to complete the tasks are available with the necessary experience to address them from the local context.

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)