Water, energy and food resources are closely related.
Water, energy and food are essential and interrelated resources for life and for the sustainable development of our communities; intervention in one of these 3 resources has a significant impact on the others.
For example, all continents are currently experiencing some form of stress related to one or two of these resources, and pressures on them are likely to intensify on a larger scale in the coming years.
Some projections indicate that demand for water, energy, and food will increase significantly in the coming decades. According to the OECD, food production is expected to increase by 60% by 2050, global energy consumption is projected to grow by 80%, and total global water withdrawals are projected to increase by 55%.
Meeting these demands will be a major challenge due to rapid population growth, economic development, urbanization, and the effects of climate change.
How are water, energy and food resources related?
For example, water is necessary for public service supply (drinking water service), for agricultural development in irrigation and rainfed systems, for livestock use, and for industrial use.
At the same time, water is essential for electric power production systems, hydroelectric power, biofuel production and cooling services in nuclear and geothermal power plants, and it is also heavily used in the extraction process of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil, shale gas, etc.) and in the mining industry.
On the other hand, energy is indispensable for the treatment, purification, desalination and pumping of water to cities, for pumping water in agricultural irrigation systems, as well as for the food production industry. Finally, the food industry is an inherently necessary activity for the economic and social development of a country.