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WATER, FOOD AND ENERGY SUPPLY CHAINS FOR A GREEN ECONOMY
Author(s) -
Vlotman Willem F.,
Ballard Clarke
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
irrigation and drainage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1531-0361
pISSN - 1531-0353
DOI - 10.1002/ird.1835
Subject(s) - nexus (standard) , sustainability , virtual water , business , natural resource economics , supply chain , water use , food energy , environmental economics , food chain , water supply , water conservation , water energy , food supply , resource efficiency , water resources , agricultural economics , economics , environmental science , engineering , environmental engineering , water scarcity , marketing , ecology , biochemistry , chemistry , biology , embedded system
A new paradigm for sustainable, integrated, water resources management is emerging from international conferences around the world. Its most succinct description is ‘the water–food–energy nexus for a green economy’. The water, food and energy nexus aims at the most efficient, best practice principles applied throughout the full food supply chain. This includes consideration of reducing wastage of the food for various reasons in the supply chain. This paper describes the global opportunities for better efficiency and resources conservation in the water, food, and energy supply chains with examples from Australia. Food wastage equates on average to 243 l day −1 of water per person in the food they throw away, which is 1.5 times the daily water use per person in the UK. The concepts of virtual water and water footprint can help in identifying opportunities to save water by targeting reduction of wastage of food that has the highest virtual water content. A green economy aims at achieving optimised supply chain objectives in a manner that espouses the sustainability principle, gives due attention to environmental concerns and helps with eradication of poverty and hunger. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.