Collaborative Research:NSF-NSFC:Improving FEW system sustainability over the SEUS and NCP: A cross-regional synthesis considering uncertainties in climate and regional development

从全球角度来看，粮食-能源-水(少数)联系可以被描述为粮食、能源和水的相互关联的资源系统。随着世界人口到2050年扩大到预计的90亿，需要在这三个系统之间平衡不同的资源，以实现不同的用户目标，而不会给提供这些资源的生态系统带来不必要的压力。来自北卡罗来纳州立大学、中佛罗里达大学和国际粮食政策研究所的研究小组与北京大学中国和中国水利水电研究所的研究伙伴合作，计划为美国东南部和北部中国平原地区开发一个区域少数系统模型框架，并确定和量化这两个地区的少数可持续发展指标和衡量标准。研究人员打算使用ReFEWS建模框架来帮助不同的几个Nexus利益相关者和决策者根据未来10-30年内气候不确定的预测政策和发展情景来规划区域发展。这样的建模框架将为美国东南部地区的农业和能源行业提供一种工具，帮助预测最佳发展计划，以应对当前和未来的几个NEXUS问题。来自美国和中国的跨学科研究小组将考虑两个研究地区，Seus和NCP，这两个地区在作物生产、用水和能源消耗方面有着相似的投资组合，但经历了水和能源可用性、法规和管理实践的对比。使用ReFEWS，一个连接水、电和作物生产模型的模拟优化建模框架，主要研究人员计划确定适应途径，以最大限度地提高协同效应，并将影响降至最低，跨越两个地区的几个系统。一个联合目标是进行一项跨区域综合，描述ReFEWS系统的变化如何影响农业部门和特定粮食商品的价格。研究人员还将与几个系统、机构和机构接触，进行外联和政策调整。关于两个具有国家重要性的领域的跨学科综合将为制定一份白皮书提供信息，该白皮书将确定应对战略和适应途径，以提高少数系统的弹性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus, from a global perspective, can be described as the interconnected resource systems of food, energy, and water. As the world's population expands to the expected 9 billion by 2050, there will be a need to balance difference resources across these three systems to obtain different user goals without putting undue strain on the ecosystems that provide these resources. The research groups from North Carolina State University, the University of Central Florida, and the International Food Policy Research Institute, in collaboration with research partners in China from Peking University and the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, plan to develop a Regional FEW system (ReFEWS) modeling framework for the Southeast US (SEUS) and North China Plain (NCP) Regions and identify and quantify FEW sustainability indicators and metrics for these two regions. The researchers intend to use the ReFEWS modeling framework to help various FEW Nexus stakeholders and decision-makers plan regional development with projected policy and development scenarios considering climate uncertainties over the next 10 - 30 years. Such a modeling framework would benefit US agricultural and energy sectors in the southeastern region of the country by providing a tool to help predict the best development plans to counter both current and future FEW Nexus issues.The interdisciplinary research groups from the US and China will consider two study regions, SEUS and NCP, which have similar portfolios of crop production, water usage, and energy consumption, but experience contrasting water and energy availability, regulations, and management practices. Using ReFEWS, a simulation-optimization modeling framework that links water, power, and crop production models, the principal investigators plan to identify adaptation pathways to maximize synergies and minimize impacts across FEW systems over the two regions. An allied goal is to perform a cross-regional synthesis that describes how changes to ReFEWS systems could impact both the agriculture sector and the prices of specific food commodities. The researchers will also engage with several FEW systems institutions and agencies for outreach and policy adaptations. The cross-disciplinary synthesis on two regions of national importance will provide information for the development of a white paper that will identify coping strategies and adaptation pathways for improving FEW system resilience.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.