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Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade Approaches: Applications to the Water-Energy-Food-Land Nexus in a Context of Climate Change

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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water-Energy Nexus".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 16249

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Maite M. Aldaya

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Guest Editor

Institute for Sustainability and Food Chain Innovation (ISFOOD), Public University of Navarra (UPNA), 31006 Pamplona, Spain
Interests: water footprint; virtual water trade; green water footprint; blue water footprint; grey water footprint; integrated water resources management; environmental footprints
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Diego Sesma-Martín

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Guest Editor

Department of Economics and Business, University of La Rioja, 26004 Logroño, Spain
Interests: water footprint; water–energy nexus; ecological economics; water management; water conflicts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Joep F. Schyns

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Guest Editor

Multidisciplinary Water Management Group, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
Interests: sustainable water and land management; environmental footprint assessment; agricultural water management; crop modeling; water for energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Humanity faces major challenges to reconcile the goals of climate mitigation and adaptation, zero hunger, and sustainable use of water and land resources. Both water and land availability are limited, but demand for these resources is increasing due to the growing demand for food and energy and shifts towards more resource-intensive diets and energy mixes.

Climate change projections indicate that droughts, heat waves, and floods will be increasingly recurrent in many regions worldwide. This will affect the rainfall patterns, river flows, and groundwater in terms of both water quantity and quality. Agriculture will be impacted by the erratic availability of rainfall and the limited possibilities to irrigate as competition over surface- and groundwater resources increases. Decarbonization of the economy is vital to limit global warming and climate change. However, shifting away from fossil fuels to certain alternative energy sources might increase water and land footprints.

Since the effects of climate change are surrounded by uncertainty, it is essential to build resilience into food and energy systems. It is necessary to improve our capacity to face and adapt to new situations in order to ensure water, energy, food, and land security for the people and the planet on local and global scales. This calls for integrated, holistic approaches that consider the coherence between water, energy, food, land, and trade, such as water footprint assessment.

This Special Issue is open to papers that make progress in the field of water footprint assessment to address challenges in the water–energy–food–land nexus in the context of climate change. We welcome both original research and review papers that innovatively apply existing or develop new water footprint (green, blue, grey) and virtual water trade approaches in this context. We are broadly interested in studies on processes, products, organizations, (groups of) consumers, or specific geographical areas (e.g., river basins or nations).

Dr. Maite M. Aldaya
Dr. Diego Sesma-Martín
Dr. ir. Joep F. Schyns
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

water footprint
green water
blue water
grey water footprint
virtual water trade
water–food–energy–land nexus
water scarcity
resilience
droughts
climate change

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

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6 pages, 247 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Advances and Challenges in the Water Footprint Assessment Research Field: Towards a More Integrated Understanding of the Water–Energy–Food–Land Nexus in a Changing Climate

by Maite M. Aldaya, Diego Sesma-Martín and Joep F. Schyns

Water 2022, 14(9), 1488; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14091488 - 06 May 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1464

Abstract

Today, human activities are highly dependent on fossil fuels and industrialized forms of agriculture and have reached a level that could damage the Earth’s systems [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade Approaches: Applications to the Water-Energy-Food-Land Nexus in a Context of Climate Change)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

19 pages, 1035 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Different Approaches to Assessing Pollution Load: The Case of Nitrogen-Related Grey Water Footprint of Barley and Soybean in Argentina

by Paula Olivera Rodriguez, Mauro Ezequiel Holzman, Claudio Ramón Mujica, Raúl Eduardo Rivas and Maite M. Aldaya

Water 2021, 13(24), 3558; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13243558 - 13 Dec 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2874

Abstract

Agriculture is among the main causes of water pollution. Currently, 75% of global anthropogenic nitrogen (N) loads come from leaching/runoff from cropland. The grey water footprint (GWF) is an indicator of water resource pollution, which allows for the evaluation and monitoring of pollutant loads (L) that can affect water. However, in the literature, there are different approaches to estimating L and thus contrasting GWF estimates: (A1) leaching/runoff fraction approach, (A2) surplus approach and (A3) soil nitrogen balance approach. This study compares these approaches for the first time to assess which one is best adapted to real crop production conditions and optimises GWF calculation. The three approaches are applied to assess N-related GWF in barley and soybean. For barley in 2019, A3 estimated a GWF value 285 to 196% higher than A1, while in 2020, the A3 estimate was 135 to 81% higher. Soybean did not produce a GWF due to the crop characteristics. A3 incorporated N partitioning within the agroecosystem and considered different N inputs beyond fertilization, improving the accuracy of L and GWF estimation. Providing robust GWF results to decision-makers may help to prevent or reduce the impacts of activities that threaten the world’s water ecosystems and supply. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade Approaches: Applications to the Water-Energy-Food-Land Nexus in a Context of Climate Change)

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26 pages, 1830 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Developing the Food, Water, and Energy Nexus for Food and Energy Scenarios with the World Trade Model

by Ignacio Cazcarro and Naci Dilekli

Water 2021, 13(17), 2354; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13172354 - 27 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2653

Abstract

The food, energy, and water (FEW) nexus has gained increased attention, resulting in numerous studies on management approaches. Themes of resource use, and their subsequent scarcity and economic rents, which are within the application domain of the World Trade Model, are ripe for study, with the continuing development of forward- and backward-facing economic data. Scenarios of future food and energy demand, relating to supply chains, as well as direct and indirect resource uses, are modelled in this paper. While it is possible to generate a substantial number of economic and environmental scenarios, our focus is on the development of an overarching approach involving a range of scenarios. We intend to establish a benchmark of possibilities in the context of the debates surrounding the Paris Climate Agreement (COP21) and the Green New Deal. Our approach draws heavily from the existing literature on international agreements and targets, notably that of COP21, whose application we associate with the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP). Relevant factor uses and scarcity rent increases are found and localized, e.g., on the optimal qualities of water, minerals, and land. A clear policy implication is that, in all scenarios, processes of energy transition, raw material use reduction, and recycling must be strengthened. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade Approaches: Applications to the Water-Energy-Food-Land Nexus in a Context of Climate Change)

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16 pages, 3102 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade of Maize in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

by Maria Macarena Arrien, Maite M. Aldaya and Corina Iris Rodriguez

Water 2021, 13(13), 1769; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13131769 - 26 Jun 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4288

Abstract

Agriculture is the largest fresh water consuming sector, and maize is the most produced and consumed crop worldwide. The water footprint (WF) methodology quantifies and evaluates the water volumes consumed and polluted by a given crop, as well as its impacts. In this work, we quantified for the first time the green WF (soil water from precipitation that is evapotranspired) and the green virtual water exports of maize from Buenos Aires province, Argentina, during 2016–2017, due to the relevance of this region in the world maize trade. Furthermore, at local level, we quantified the green, blue (evapotranspired irrigation), and grey (volume of water needed to assimilate a pollution load) WF of maize in a pilot basin. The green WF of maize in the province of Buenos Aires ranged between 170 and 730 m³/ton, with the highest values in the south following a pattern of yields. The contribution of this province in terms of green virtual water to the international maize trade reached 2213 hm³/year, allowing some water-scarce nations to ensure water and water-dependent food security and avoid further environmental impacts related to water. At the Napaleofú basin scale, the total WF of rainfed maize was 358 m³/ton (89% green and 11% grey) and 388 m³/ton (58% green, 25% blue, and 17% grey) for the irrigated crop, showing that there is not only a green WF behind the exported maize, but also a Nitrogen-related grey WF. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade Approaches: Applications to the Water-Energy-Food-Land Nexus in a Context of Climate Change)

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18 pages, 1394 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Water and Food Nexus: Role of Socio-Economic Status on Water–Food Nexus in an Urban Agglomeration Hyderabad, India Using Consumption Water Footprint

by Koteswara Rao. D., Satish K. Regonda and Chandrasekharam Dornadula

Water 2021, 13(5), 637; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13050637 - 27 Feb 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3425

Abstract

Cities are complex and evolving systems with various factors playing key roles, e.g., population increase, the migration of population, the availability of resources, and the flexibility of policies. Consumers’ socioeconomic status is also an important aspect that needs to be studied in the context of a self-reliant urban city in its resource consumption. In this regard, the association between water–food and socio-economic attributes was analyzed based on the consumer-centric approach for the Hyderabad Metro Development Authority (HMDA) region, India. In this study, the embedded water content in food consumption was estimated and analyzed for nine food groups and twelve economic classes of the HMDA region. The middle economic classes were found to correspond to ~80% of embedded water content in the HMDA region, followed by the upper and lower economic classes. Except for cereals, per capita, the water consumption of all food groups increased with the spending power of the economic class. The green, blue, and grey consumption water footprints (WFs) suggested that much of the water that is being consumed in the HMDA region is precipitation-driven, followed by surface and groundwater resources. Limited water resources, water resource variability, climate change consequences including future climate projections, uncertainty in data, WF estimates, and region’s future growth imply a detailed study in drafting policies to become a self-reliant region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade Approaches: Applications to the Water-Energy-Food-Land Nexus in a Context of Climate Change)

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