Food-energy-water Systems Integration: Modelling, Optimization and Sustainable Resource Management

This book analyses the challenges and opportunities within the food-energy-water nexus, offering actionable insights into workable resource management practices. By bridging the gap between practical utilisation and science, the book produces a link that integrates food, energy, and water to improve the sustainability of these natural resources. It offers a possible effective basis aimed at fostering innovative and collaborative research in this sector.

Features:

• Emphasises the sustainability of natural resources, encouraging readers to understand the importance of harmonising food, energy, and water demands for sustainable development.
• Provides methodologies and practical tools to measure and enhance nexus performance for resource optimisation across different locations.                       
• Integrates interdisciplinary perspectives, drawing from engineering, environmental science, economics, and policy research to provide a holistic view of the nexus.
• Examines the development of the nexus, offering insights into past trends, current conditions, and prospective states.                                                             
• Outlines actionable strategies for optimising the application and management of food, energy, and water resources.    

The book is aimed at graduate and postgraduate students, researchers in environmental engineering, including policymakers, and industry practitioners seeking innovative approaches to resource management within the food-energy-water nexus.                                                   

Oliver O. Apeh is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Previously, he served as a research assistant at the Fort Hare Institute of Technology (FHIT), University of Fort Hare, and has over a decade of experience teaching science courses at high schools and working as a laboratory demonstrator for undergraduate students. He received his BSc and MSc degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Nigeria Nsukka in 2011 and 2015, respectively, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in 2014. In 2021, he completed his PhD in Physics at the University of Fort Hare, South Africa. His chief research interests cover aspects of renewable energy, including nanomaterial sciences, solar photovoltaic systems, smart energy systems, sustainable development studies, data science for digital transformation, and machine learning for solar energy. As an emerging researcher, he has published five peer-reviewed journal papers. His current research is on the Food-Energy-Water nexus. He is a professional Physicist registered with the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP)

Nnamdi Nwulu is a Professor of Electrical Engineering, and the Director of the Centre for Cyber Physical Food, Energy & Water Systems (CCP-FEWS) at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research interests focus on the application of digital technologies, mathematical optimization techniques and machine learning algorithms in food, energy and water systems. He has authored five (5) books and over seventy (70) indexed journal publications. He has received numerous accolades, including the 2021 NRF Research Excellence Award for Early Career/Emerging Researchers (Engineering/Technology) and the 2020 UJ Vice Chancellor's most promising young researcher award. He was also a 2020/2021 TW Kambule-NSTF-South32 Award finalist in the category of Emerging Researcher. A Professional Engineer registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), he is a senior member of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (SMIEEE) and the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SMSAIEE), a member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS), and a Y-rated Researcher by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Digital Food Energy and Water Systems (JD-FEWS), Associate Editor of the IET Renewable Power Generation (IET-RPG) and the African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID).