Related topic: Energy, Water, Food, Nexus, Sustainable
A detail study on Decentralized Energy food water system Nexus
Feb 15, 2022 – Ritesh Shah, Shrena Maharjan, Nishma Bhandari
In the context of the world that is today, many countries have exponential growth of the population. This growth has a direct impact on the living standard of people causing a rise in demand for food, water, and energy. The natural resources for food, water and energy are also being depleted day by day and if there is no monitorization in the growth rate of the population then in a few decades the resources will be completely wiped out. In the world having a total population of 7.753 billion, Nepal is ranked 49th having a total of 29.14 million population. Although having a massive manpower, Nepal is poorly ranked in HDI (0.602). Due to the poor per capita income, gross domestic product (29.30 USD billion), economic downturn with high level of unemployment, unstable government and several other parameters are creating huge hurdles in the enhancement of the country’s economic growth. The economy of Nepal highly relies only on tourism, subsistence agriculture and remittance but in order to boost the economic sector, Nepal has to give precedence to sustainable approach for the optimum utilization of natural resources, proper utilization of inadequate land efficiently for food production, poor inland transport, hydropower, irrigation, drinking water with other developmental infrastructures, a comprehensive policy linking water – energy – food nexus within a country for combating water, energy and food security would be most relevant.
The concept of the food-water-energy nexus was initially discussed in 1983 at the United Nations University’s Food-Energy Nexus Program. The program focused on the difficulties of food and energy in developing nations, emphasizing technological and policy solutions. The aim of environmentally sustainable economic growth places enormous pressure on developing countries’ depleting natural resources at a higher pace. This is a more complicated challenge than in industrialized developed countries on account that their stage of economic development undergoes less rapid population growth whereas in terms of South Asia, comprising eight countries and one-fifth of the world’s population in just 4% of the world’s land mass, is the most densely populated geographical region in the world. In this region, a large section of the population lives in rural areas. A large section of the population, particularly in rural areas, lacks access to electricity and relies on the traditional use of biomass for cooking. With limited domestic energy sources, most South Asian countries are also highly dependent on energy imports.
Country | HDI | Gross Domestic Product |
India | 0.645 | 2.623 trillion |
Nepal | 0.602 | 33.66 billion |
Pakistan | 0.557 | 263.7billion |
Sri-lanka | 0.782 | 80.71 billion |
Bhutan | 0.654 | 2.409 billion |
Afghanistan | 0.511 | 19.81 billion |
Maldives | 0.740 | 4.03 billion |
Bangladesh | 0.632 | 342.2 billion |
The 2011 Bonn conference which was titled as ‘The Water, Energy and Food Security Nexus – Solutions for the Green Economy’ provided a clear vision about the benefits of having a nexus approach in terms of proper utilization of energy resources, role of good governance for the food energy-water sectors.
It has been further promoted by international agencies, donors, governments, and NGOs. In many places of the world such as China, India, Bangladesh and the Middle East and Northern Africa, demand for fresh water exceeds supply and an estimated 1.2 billion live in areas of water scarcity. At the same time, most thermal sources of electricity generation are heavily dependent on water for cooling. For example, thermoelectric power plants account for 39% of annual freshwater withdrawal in the United States and 43% in Europe. Decentralized biomass energy in remote rural communities of Colombia was found to reduce the system’s net cost and carbon emissions, because it reduces the transportation cost and supports sustainable local development. In Guizhou, China, one micro hydropower evaluated the cost of the project and indicated that the eco-friendliness of the project remains highly contested due to the impact on the downstream drying up of the river and recommended a cautious approach to maximize the benefits and mitigate negative ecological impacts and so on.
South Asia, comprising eight countries and one-fifth of the world’s population in just 4% of the world’s land mass, is the most densely populated geographical region in the world. A large section of the population, particularly in rural areas lacks access to electricity and relies on the traditional use of biomass for cooking. With limited domestic energy sources, most South Asian countries are also highly dependent on energy imports.
India is one of the world’s largest irrigators with groundwater irrigation has emphasized enhancing the energy efficiency of electric irrigation pumps and giving soft guidelines on increasing efficiency in energy use. Although a perverse route was taken by the political economy of India, schemes have been announced to use solar energy for pumps and encourage the use of barren land to set up decentralized solar power plants. Nexus thinking, however, is still at a nascent stage and to put into practice much greater advocacy for effective policy changes.
The off-grid technologies have been used either through the creation of local mini-grids or disseminating household-level technologies such as solar PV for lighting and other low consumption activities. The MNRE statistics indicate that about 404.56 MWp of cumulative off-grid distributed renewable power including captive plants combined heat and power exists in the country. Almost 95% of the remote census villages taken up for electrification under RVE are provided with solar home systems or solar power plants. As of March 2010, the number of villages and hamlets electrified under the RVE was 5348 and 1408, respectively. A total of 69 411 solar home systems were installed in the country, bettering the program target of 40 000 systems. 2. In addition, the program is also supporting new solutions such as small solar-powered lamps (solar tuki) and is aiming to cover 150 000 households with solar home systems and about 250 000 households by solar tuki systems.
Sri Lanka stands out among the South Asian countries for its high rate of household electrification. During the period 1986–2005, the national electrification rate improved significantly from 10.9%–76.7%. Almost 75% of the rural households in Sri-lanka are connected to the electricity grid, while another 2% of the households are provided with basic electricity connections through the off-grid option. The project catalyzed the solar market by installing 20 953 solar home systems, with a total capacity of 985 kW, against a target of 15 000 systems; 31 MW of mini-hydro capacity installed through 15 projects against a target of 21 MW; and 350 kW of capacity through 35 village hydro schemes serving 1732 beneficiary households against a target of 250 kW through 20 schemes.
The Mahaweli Water Security Investment Program, financed by the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Sri Lanka had aimed to complete the Mahaweli Development Program, started in the 1970s to improve farmer incomes, food security, equity between different parts of the country, public health, and domestic, municipal and industrial water supplies. Up to 900 million m³ of water will be transferred annually from the Mahaweli River to the water-scarce north and northwest. The transfer will facilitate in the cultivation of crops and must be shared with competing consumptive demands, as well as meeting daily peak energy demands through releases for hydropower.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the overall electrification rate in Bangladesh was 41% in 2008, with 76% of the urban population and only 28% of the rural population having access to electricity. Though the rural household electrification rate is poor, Bangladesh has recorded an impressive rural electrification performance with the help of solar PV technology especially solar home systems. The solar PV program was developed by Infrastructure Development Company Limited, Bangladesh (IDCOL, Bangladesh) with the help of the World Bank. The project is now implemented by IDCOL, Bangladesh, through its 23 partner organizations (POs), including leading names such as Grameen Shakti and Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance.
The total annual water in Bhutan availability stands at 70,576.02 cu.m which works out to an average flow of 2,238 cu.m/sec in 2015. Bhutan has one of the highest annual per capita water resource availability in the world with 94,500 cu.m/capita/annum. The total annual water availability stands at 70,576.02 cu.m which works out to an average flow of 2,238 cu.m/sec in 2015. Despite the availability of surface water sources in abundance at the national level, there are many localized and seasonal water shortages with settlements on the mountain slopes and the rivers in the valleys. India has provided technical and financial assistance to Bhutan in the development of hydropower. Bhutan exports about 1,000-1,200MW power to India.
The renewable natural resources sector in Bhutan comprises agriculture, livestock, and forestry in terms of the primary food sector. Bhutan’s two main food crops are maize and rice production. Most cereals are consumed domestically, but domestic production is not sufficient. Bhutan imports 34 % of its cereal needs, and close to one-third of the population suffers from food insecurity. Poor nutrition, food insecurity, and malnutrition pose major risks to Bhutan’s population.
Afghanistan’s population depends on agriculture for its livelihoods. Being a semiarid country, Afghanistan has experienced numerous cyclical droughts, hence the government has plans to undertake major upgrades of dilapidated irrigation networks to ensure reliable access to water for farmers. The rural development strategy relies on private investment and public sector support to transform agriculture in some prioritized zones, where conditions are most favorable and high value-added commercial agricultural activities can flourish. Five of these agricultural growth zones are located in northern Afghanistan, near the Amu Darya River. The rehabilitation of Northern Afghanistan’s irrigation systems, along with their necessary expansion, has the potential to triple withdrawals from the Amu Darya from 2.1 bcm to 6 bcm. Experts believe that substantial increases will however not occur for at least two decades and that these are hence not likely to immediately aggravate already competitive pressures in the basin. Afghanistan is further planning to focus on solar energy projects including the Solar homes program, Solar roof-top program, Solar irrigation pumps, solar mini, and nana grids.
Pakistan is an agro-based country and agriculture generates nearly 60 % of the country’s GDP and provides employment for 43.4% of its workforce. Mostly 65.9% of the population living in rural areas is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. According to the world resource institute, Pakistan is facing a water crisis that is the most critical problem and extremely high water scarcity and low access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Despite having huge potential, Pakistan is confronted with an intense ‘energy crisis’. The lack of long-term sustainable policies, bad governance, and lack of awareness are some of the causes leading to the crisis.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has been among the first organizations to identify the water, food, and energy nexus as a key development challenge, calling for a better understanding of the inter-linkages between water, energy, and food at the 2008 Annual Meeting in Davos (Water Security: Water, Food, Energy and Climate Nexus, The World Economic Forum Water Initiative. Island Press, Washington DC, US; WEF 2011 Report). WEF’s Water Initiative explored water security in relation to energy and food systems, climate, economic growth, and human security challenges, and the Water Resources Group at WEF launched a Nexus initiative with water security as a practical entry point. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has developed a methodology to assess the water, energy, food, ecosystems nexus in Transboundary Rivers and aquifers (UNECE Task Force on Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems, 2013). The method proposes a consultative, open-ended process to identify the ‘‘complex chains of cause-effects that link human interventions to environmental degradation and availability of resources”.
In the Maldives, energy sources are traditionally based on imported conventional supply, of which the most common fuel is diesel which fuels small power plants, often with low efficiency. Renewable resources are scarcely used. While solar water heaters are quite widespread, Photovoltaic panels and wind plants are rare. In 2016, the total power generation from renewable energy was 6 MW. In the medium term, the government has planned to install renewable energy systems for up to 30% of the daytime peak load in all inhabited islands. The aim is to transit from energy dependence to independence from the mainland. In the Maldives, scarcity and quality of water are relevant issues. Maldivians used freshwater from household wells for both potable and non-potable purposes. A public water system became available to 49% of the local population and was fully operative by the end of 2017. The annual electricity produced is about 17,600 kWh, which means a production of about 48 kWh/day. The total solar collector area is 62 m^2 and can be located on a roof (see also for a feasibility analysis on roof-mounted solar PV systems in Hulhumale Island in The Maldives for energy production).
Food, energy, and water (FEW) resources have high interconnection and interdependencies as each resource can be affected by the other two. Thus, the Nexus approach is introduced and implemented to manage FEW. In addition, the concept of decentralization for FEW-nexus is focused on equal distribution of food, water, and energy resources with a motive to attain sustainability.
Decentralized energy, water, and food (EWF) systems can be used as a supplementary measure to the existing centralized energy system. Decentralized systems typically use renewable energy sources, including small hydro, combined heat and power, biomass, solar, and wind power. A decentralized EWF system can increase the security of supply, reduce transmission losses, and lower carbon emissions. Decentralized energy systems provide opportunities for deploying renewable energy sources locally available as well as for expanding access to clean energy services to remote communities.
Although Nepal is small, landlocked, and is gifted with huge renewable energy resources, especially hydropower, solar, and wind power. It has a population of 29,192,480, with roughly 18.7% of the population living below the poverty line. Currently, Nepal’s Human Development Index is 0.602, with a ranking of 142nd of 189 countries. The majority of Nepalese people still have to rely on traditional energy sources such as biomass because of a lack of access to modern forms of energy. Moreover, the development and management practices of EFW are centralized and focus mainly on urban areas, thus leaving the majority of rural populations away from the EFW systems. The economy is dominated by agriculture, which provides a livelihood for over 80 % of the population and accounts for 41% of the Gross Domestic Product. Over 85% of Nepalese people living in rural areas use biomass as their energy source, especially fuelwood and agriculture residues. Commercial energy sources, such as petroleum and electricity occupy 12% of energy consumption of which nearly 2% represent the electricity of the total energy consumption. About 56% of the population has access to electricity in which urban areas have better access to electricity in comparison to rural areas (urban area 93% and rural area 49%). About two-thirds of households use firewood as their main source of fuel for cooking.
The total installed generation capacity in Nepal is only 1,182 megawatts (MW) against a peak electricity demand of 1,320 MW in fiscal year 2018–2019.The slow progress of hydropower development is because of insufficient planning and investment in technology, transmission, and distribution capacity also it concerned about the ability of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to honor take-or-pay contract obligations; and the delays in project development, due to legal and regulatory shortcomings. As a result, Nepal now suffers from a severe power crisis including frequent load shedding and it ranks 137th out of 147 countries in quality of electricity supply. Nepal has the potential to decentralize renewable energy supply systems, such as micro-hydro, solar PV, biogas, and improved cooking stoves, which can provide feasible and eco-friendly supply options. Renewable energy technologies that can be used in Nepal include 100 MW of electricity that can be generated from the micro-hydro schemes;2100 MW from solar and 3000 MW from wind. Moreover, the country has the capacity to develop about 1.1 million domestic biogas plants.
Farmers have not always been able to access the subsidized farm power connection and due to irregular and unreliable supply of electricity which leads to plentiful groundwater at relatively shallow depths in most parts of the Terai, but low utilization of the resource due to high energy costs and different factors hinder access to water in the hills, mountains, and plains of Nepal. In the hills and mountains, the main problems are geophysical, with water mostly accessible in the valleys below the steep slopes, and rocky subsoil limiting the possibility of storage. Thus, rainfed agriculture is still the method of choice in most of this area. The plains areas of the Terai are mostly suitable for irrigation, but irrigation use remains low. Irrigation infrastructure in Nepal uses the traditional type, which requires more labour and resources for repair and maintenance. Increasing erosion, landslides, and sediment have further complicated repair and maintenance, making it more costly and reducing the command area for surface irrigation. Though Nepal is bestowed with rich agricultural biodiversity, providing over 66 percent of the employment opportunities and contributing 33 percent to GDP, in the present situation, irrigation systems in Nepal are running at low levels of both technical and allocative efficiency due to which the production of crops is minimized day by day which results in a high hunger hunt as by 2050, there will be around 36 million people in Nepal. Crops play a vital role in vendor-centric supply chains. It is often seen that farmers are compelled to sell crops at a low prices, but when customers receive the final product, there is massive growth in the price range. Moreover, farmers are not paid timely and are forced to sell their hard work at the lowest price to the monopoly market. In Nepal, it has almost become impossible for more than 80% of farmers to buy seed and fertilizer without vendor credit.
The vendors thus strategize from the farmer’s helplessness by providing them with seeds and fertilizers for free of cost and making sure that in return they shall sell all their crop productions to that same vendor. In the end, this monopolist group of the society snatches all the production of the poor farmers at very low rates. So, it has become a trend for vendors to make the sole decision about crop prices before selling it to the next buyer at an excess profit. The market is ruled by middlemen rather than farmers. There are no rules and regulations to stop this group from monopoly and monopolistic markets.
The current scenario demonstrates that farmers do not have a direct link with consumers of the society. It is like a need for both consumer and supplier to have a vendor in between them for a smooth trade. Not only that, the chain of vendors is involved in the process where one buys goods from the farmer and then sells to distributors with some profit to themselves, this chain continues until it is finally supplied to the customers. It is often contemplated that excess profit is engulfed by vendors in each stage without doing much hard work. Some of these unnecessary costs are benefiting the middlemen instead of farmers and customers. If the vendor-centric chain was able to be broken, then there would be a strong link between farmers and customers which would benefit the farmers.
With decentralized energy food water, farmers need not rely on anyone and will be able to add value locally in accordance to energy and water used. Along with that, there would be efficient and adequate production of crops which can be directly supplied to the market and finally to the customer. In the end, it’s a win-win situation for farmers to have more percentages and customers to have low-cost products. All the gain due to decentralized energy food water can be used in the same field for better production and yield.
In conclusion, the sensitivity to price fluctuations, limited access to energy sources can trick the rural economies into poverty. Thus, decentralized renewable energy solutions can become handy in this scenario like biogas with electricity and biomass gasifiers, and electricity should be contemplated/considered. The socio-economic impacts of decentralized applications in the agri-food chain can result in economic, health, and environmental benefits.
A coordinated and multidisciplinary approach needs to be created and implemented to support social, economic, technical, and institutional innovations to make decentralization of energy sources sustainable and in managing and coordinating the linkages among, and facilitating the synergies along the WEF value chains. We recommend further quantitative and interdisciplinary studies to specifically estimate more levels of impacts and explore the feedback, synergies, and trade-offs within the WEF nexus.
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