How Are the Strategic Resources of Food, Water, and Energy Interrelated? Essay Example

The crisis arising from insufficient water, food and energy is harmful to the bone. The future depends on these life-sustaining resources cannot be undermined. World population increases day by day, the and has hit 7.7 billion thresholds already. Each standing person depends solely on water for life. Without food, death is slipped away. Without energy, one is equally filtered to death. None of these strategic life resources can stand on its own. They are interdependent. Food production is the largest consumer of globes freshwater resources, and a sizeable quantity of energy produced is expended on production of food, conservation of food and supply.

Water, energy, and food are leading daily agenda of discussions in the international community, national governments, corporate boards, business organizations and family setups. Whenever a discussion on one of them arises, the rest must be touched even by a mere mention. The outcome of the discussions is key definers mechanisms and measures taken to maximize the power of the resources mentioned above with little to no waste at all. Each player in the sector is equally concerned about the future likely event of exhaustion of the clean water in households. The key players in the industry are also concerned with the increasing insecurity of fresh food and reliable energy surplus (Bazilian et al., 2011).

While seeking solutions for the strategic resources, somehow an umbrella solution covering the three is suggested. If not so, the solution has a direct and indirect impact on the other. For instance, for governments to produce and process more food or attract investors, water and reliability are the topmost considerations. Water will irrigate crop plantations as it does to cooling Power plants and refining crude oil. Purifying water require energized personnel and more industrial energy. The three resources are strategic and intrinsically interrelated.

How will improved living standards increase demand for these resources?

Growth in economy directly correlates with demand for energy, water, and food. Factors such as increasing income, change in habitat such as migration from rural areas to cities, advances in technology imply improve living standards. The rising living standards put pressure on water, energy, and food. A factor like movement to the urban center will skyrocket the demand for already stretched resources in towns. Little or farms or firms set aside in towns for production of the resources and therefore this implies that such resources in towns are transported from remote areas (Popp et al.,).

How can countries develop sustainable strategies for ensuring the availability of these resources for human health and economic growth?

Beyond the fear of the physical scarcity of the resources, fears of accessibility challenges and the costly pricing of them have made the stakeholders revisit the drawing boards. Governments have had to subsidize the costs of the resources through tax evasion of the products and provision of raw materials, especially on food. Policies have been set and strictly regulated for water and energy usage without waste. Advertisements are on almost every product advising users and methods of saving the resources when using (Bizikova et al., 2013).

The governments all over the countries in the entire world need to embrace new approaches to developing alternatives for the strategic resources. The governments have further broadened the industry players in the sector to diversify innovative approaches to problem-solving. Consumers are increasingly being advised to break tradition eating habits and embrace the inclusion of a variety of food items on the menu.

The governments need to integrate strategies simultaneously among the consumers and investors fail to which the actors will be frustrated. If the strategies dont match simultaneously, the economy will be stagnated; political unrests will hit the streets and significantly threaten energy security. The government will be compelled to spend on emergency food reliefs since producers will significantly reduce agricultural outputs. Idle land held by government should be leased at reduced rates to investors and citizens willing to practice farming.

There is an indisputable need for the government to enhance collaboration amongst the actors for it to manage the resources. When corporate leaders, policymakers, and implementers share knowledge and expertise findings, the whole will realize that the strategic resources are the most impending urgent challenges that need an immediate turnaround. Solutions and best way forwards will be launched. The measures will drive the globe to realize and live to its vision continuous improvement.

2. Despite skyrocketing demand for energy, a transition from fossil fuels to alternative sources of energy on a large scale is not expected to occur in the short term. Why?

Converting from todays fossil fuel consumption to alternative renewable sources is easier said than done. To convert mechanical power of wind and water, for example, and to convert it to electricity is achievable. However, to economically capture, store and efficiently later use the energy when required is an uphill task. It would cost beckoning to install and ensure supplies to global consumers in any near future. It is too expensive venture to replace the current fossil fuel system.

Fossils are the primary sources of energy. However, with the increasing demand for use, they will one be depleted since they are non-renewable. Because of the plain reality that one day one time there will be minimal or no energy derived from the fossils, efforts have been made to seek more of renewable energy. Unfortunate the efforts have not materialized to any celebrations yet. Reasons squarely lie on the backbone reliability and the overdependence of the fossil energy today. Fossil fuel is greatly valuable and massively important in every household being across the world (Ellabban et al.,).

What actions could be taken to speed this transition?

The idea to shift to alternative sources of global warming has raised concerns amongst the scientist as science and politics. The emission of carbon by the global society is directly proportioned to the global warmth experience. This exposition has reduced the compelling force for alternative fuel sources. A rapid consolidation of the misgivings could speed the transition.

With all the signs mentioned about evolving climate change, the reluctance to seek alternative energy sources can be speeded by resolving the scientific and political conflicts surrounding the implementation. Perhaps also a quicker transition will come from global community effort to finance the transition and seek to enlighten the global players.

What is the long-term cost of a gradual versus a rapid move to alternatives? Include the issue of climate change in your discussion.

The global effects have always driven the campaign to use alternatives. Tackling the global issues have been extremely difficult to sale across the world considering the many states each having its governing policies. The challenge is in the global warming concept itself. The climate in itself cares little about how efficient our appliances and machines are. The machines on the other care much about the quality of the fossil fuels to drive the machines (Holt et al., 2017).

References

Bazilian, M., Rogner, H., Howells, M., Hermann, S., Arent, D., Gielen, D., ... & Yumkella, K. K. (2011). Considering the energy, water and food nexus: Towards an integrated modelling approach. Energy Policy, 39(12), 7896-7906.

Bizikova, L., Roy, D., Swanson, D., Venema, H. D., & McCandless, M. (2013). The water-energy-food security nexus: Towards a practical planning and decision-support framework for landscape investment and risk management. Winnipeg, Manitoba: International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Ellabban, O., Abu-Rub, H., & Blaabjerg, F. (2014). Renewable energy resources: Current status, future prospects and their enabling technology. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 39, 748-764.

Holt, N., Shukla, S., Hochmuth, G., Munoz-Carpena, R., & Ozores-Hampton, M. (2017). Transforming the food-water-energy-land-economic nexus of plasticulture production through compact bed geometries. Advances in Water Resources.Popp, J., Lakner, Z., Harangi-Rakos, M., & Fari, M. (2014). The effect of bioenergy expansion: food, energy, and environment. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 32, 559-578.