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Oncol Lett
Cuvillier Verlag
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Water-energy-food NEXUS is central to sustainable development in MENA Region. Demand for these domains is increasing, driven with a rising global population, changing diets, rapid urbanization and economic growth. Agriculture is considered to be the largest consumer of the world’s freshwater resources, and more than one-quarter of the energy consumed globally is spent on food production and supply. The linkages between these essential domains require an appropriately integrated approach to ensuring water and food security, sustainable agriculture, and energy production worldwide.
Water is a finite resource having to serve exponentially more people and usages, and so ensuring that everyone has access to a reliable supply and sustainable progress. As water resources become more stretched, the energy and food sectors’ dependence on water means that decision-makers are now increasingly focusing on water resources management, ecosystem protection, and water supply and sanitation as part of their policy and practice for sustainable developments goals. In addition, there will be need for development of less water-intensive renewable energy, such as hydropower and wind power, before it makes a significant impact on water demand. As a result, food and energy production can intersect at many points. By identifying these intersections, it will be the solution for both sectors to capture and to optimize plans by capturing the common cutting point of each other. Approximately 10 % of the earth's population in MENA is forced to rely on contaminated water sources for basic needs. As climate change and other demographic trends will increase the stress on available water sources, and the urgency of providing clean water to people in rural areas will become more acute. This proceedings book discussed several new technology advances that are enabling clean, safe, and sustainable water supplies to remote and rural areas in MENA. It will also take a look at the water-energy-Food nexus from an international perspective, considering the evolving water needs of an increasingly decentralized grid. Furthermore, different innovation techniques displayed in this book proceeding in the energy, water and food sectors are displayed (i) to achieve climate change mitigation and adaptation, (ii) to understand how combined water-energy systems might behave under future conditions, (iii) to attain a strategic vision to enhance water, food and energy system resilience, and (iv) to improve water resources efficiency. Additionally, the different papers focusing on emerging approaches for MENA region are based on current researches that suggest adaptation actions for cost-effective risk reduction without investments of policy, management, and financial resources. Many strategies will involve high capital costs, and social acceptance of some alternatives may be limited.
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