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（FEW）关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年预计将增至90亿，将需要平衡这三个系统的不同资源，以实现不同的用户目标，同时又不对提供这些资源的生态系统造成过度压力。 来自北卡罗来纳州州立大学、中央佛罗里达大学和国际粮食政策研究所的研究小组，与北京大学和中国水利水电科学研究院的中国研究伙伴合作，计划为美国东南部（SEUS）和华北平原（NCP）开发区域FEWS系统（ReFEWS）建模框架区域，并确定和量化这两个区域的少数可持续发展指标和指标。研究人员打算使用ReFEWS建模框架来帮助各种FEW Nexus利益相关者和决策者规划区域发展，并考虑未来10 - 30年的气候不确定性。这种模型框架将为美国东南部地区的农业和能源部门提供一种工具，帮助预测最佳发展计划，以应对当前和未来的FEW 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区域，SEUS和NCP，这两个区域在作物生产，用水和能源消耗方面具有相似的组合，但经验对比水和能源的可用性，法规和管理实践。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，以最大限度地发挥协同作用，并最大限度地减少两个地区FEW系统的影响。一个相关的目标是进行跨区域综合，说明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FEW系统的机构和部门合作，进行外联和政策调整。 对两个具有全国重要性的地区的跨学科综合将为一份白色文件的制定提供信息，该文件将确定应对策略和适应途径，以提高FEW系统的弹性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

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.