Equalizing Energy In The Food-Energy-Water Security Nexus: An Integrated Global Health Approach Using Reconstructed Assessment And Bioenergy Experimentation
by Pranav Kanmadikar
Category: STEM
Abstract – The food-energy-water (FEW) security nexus is a crucial indicator of global health through its consideration of many multifaceted issues and recognition of inherent relationships between the usage of different resources. This research highlighted the FEW nexuses through both qualitative assessment and quantitative laboratory approaches. Specifically, it was concerned with: (1) inaccessibility of nexus efficiency assessments; (2) how energy security is currently marginalized in nexus research and public advocacy; and (3) the approaches which can be undertaken to alleviate those issues. A qualitative approach was taken to modify a current nexus intervention assessment and to administer it to micro-level non-profits, and a case study approach evaluating two water security organizations determined if energy security is marginalized within their current interventional efforts. Energy as a nexus issue was shown to not be adequately accounted for academically, publicly, and organizationally compared to food and water. As a solution, research was conducted specifically on biofuels, which sustainably integrate all three aspects of the nexus to produce two simultaneous energy sources—biogas and hydrogen—from municipal wastewater.