In this commentary we describe a new framework for environmental security, one that draws food, water, and energy security into a unified socio-ecological research program. While traditional uses of environmental security carry statist and militaristic undertones, we propose that this "new" environmental security provides a more comprehensive perspective for research and development. Individually, food, water, and energy security research have made great progress, and as we describe here, the three have converged upon a core set of constituent properties: availability, access, utility, and stability. Yet, tradeoffs and interactions between food, water, and energy systems, which we argue tend to be place-based and which we illustrate using some examples from Alaska, are infrequently researched and not well captured in most global frameworks for integrated assessment. We present this integrative framework for environmental security, and conclude with suggestions regarding broad research themes and priorities.

Plants and algae are the main sources of natural bioactive compounds used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. It is very important to achieve an efficient and safe technique to recover bioactive compounds while maintaining their quality and properties. Subcritical water extraction is the most promising engineering approach that offers an environmentally friendly technique for extracting various compounds from plants and algae. Application of pressurized water and high temperature in subcritical phase is able to modify the dielectric constant and polarity of the solvent which then contributes to a better extraction process. The technique improves the mass transfer rate and preserves the biological potency of the extracts. This article reviews current studies on the extraction of bioactive compounds from various species of plants and algae using the subcritical water technique and discusses its effects and benefits for the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Hydraulic fracturing—the injection of pressurized fluid, often water, to increase recovery of oil or gas—has become increasingly popular in combination with horizontal drilling. Hydraulic fracturing improves production from a well, but requires a significant amount of water to do so and could put pressure on existing water resources, especially in water-stressed areas. To supply water needs, some water rights holders sell or lease their water resources to oil and gas producers in an informal water market. These transactions enable the opportunity for cross-sectoral investments, by which the energy sector either directly or indirectly provides the capital for water efficiency improvements in the agricultural sector as a mechanism to increase water availability for other purposes, including oil and gas production. In this analysis, we employ an original water and cost model to evaluate the water market in Texas and the potential for cross-sectoral collaboration on water efficiency improvements through a case study of the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. We find that, if irrigation efficiency management practices were fully implemented, between 420 and 800 million m3 of water could be spared per year over a ten year period, potentially enabling freshwater use in oil and gas production for up to 26,000 wells, while maintaining agricultural productivity and possibly improving water flows to the ecosystem.

Hydraulic fracturing—the injection of pressurized fluid, often water, to increase recovery of oil or gas—has become increasingly popular in combination with horizontal drilling. Hydraulic fracturing improves production from a well, but requires a significant amount of water to do so and could put pressure on existing water resources, especially in water-stressed areas. To supply water needs, some water rights holders sell or lease their water resources to oil and gas producers in an informal water market. These transactions enable the opportunity for cross-sectoral investments, by which the energy sector either directly or indirectly provides the capital for water efficiency improvements in the agricultural sector as a mechanism to increase water availability for other purposes, including oil and gas production. In this analysis, we employ an original water and cost model to evaluate the water market in Texas and the potential for cross-sectoral collaboration on water efficiency improvements through a case study of the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. We find that, if irrigation efficiency management practices were fully implemented, between 420 and 800 million m3 of water could be spared per year over a ten year period, potentially enabling freshwater use in oil and gas production for up to 26,000 wells, while maintaining agricultural productivity and possibly improving water flows to the ecosystem.

Egah Janvier et al., 'Impacts of water and soil conservation strategies on households�?? food security in North West of Benin', International Journal of Agricultural Science Research, 2016

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of discharged waste effluent into water sources on heavy metals content in water, sediment and fish. A pilot study was carried out during the period from (March to May 2014). Samples were collected from water, sediment and fish (Oreochromis niloticus) from five fish farms and River Nile in Beni-Suef governorate to estimate Lead, Cadmium, Zinc and Copper. The results revealed a significant increase in Pb and Cd in water, sediment and fish samples collected from fish farms and these metals were within the permissible limits in River Nile samples. Zn and Cu in all samples of water and muscle of (farms and River Nile) were lower than permissible limits of WHO. The results of this study indicate that high levels of some heavy metals present in fish collected from the fish farms in Beni-Suef governorate are not accepted as food for human purposes.

Hydraulic fracturing—the injection of pressurized fluid, often water, to increase recovery of oil or gas—has become increasingly popular in combination with horizontal drilling. Hydraulic fracturing improves production from a well, but requires a significant amount of water to do so and could put pressure on existing water resources, especially in water-stressed areas. To supply water needs, some water rights holders sell or lease their water resources to oil and gas producers in an informal water market. These transactions enable the opportunity for cross-sectoral investments, by which the energy sector either directly or indirectly provides the capital for water efficiency improvements in the agricultural sector as a mechanism to increase water availability for other purposes, including oil and gas production. In this analysis, we employ an original water and cost model to evaluate the water market in Texas and the potential for cross-sectoral collaboration on water efficiency improvements through a case study of the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. We find that, if irrigation efficiency management practices were fully implemented, between 420 and 800 million m3 of water could be spared per year over a ten year period, potentially enabling freshwater use in oil and gas production for up to 26,000 wells, while maintaining agricultural productivity and possibly improving water flows to the ecosystem.

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) challenge markets, regulators and practitioners to achieve multiple objectives on water, food and energy. This calls for responses that are coordinated and scaled appropriately. Learning from water–energy–food nexus could support much-needed building of links between the separate SDGs. The concept has highlighted how risks manifest when blinkered development and management of water, food and energy reduce resource security across sectors and far-reaching scales. However, three under-studied dimensions of these risks must be better considered in order to identify leverage points for sustainable development: first, externalities and shared risks across multiple scales; second, innovative government mechanisms for shared risks; and third, negotiating the balance between silos, politics and power in addressing shared risks.

Freshwater scarcity is recognized as a major environmental concern at the center of international debates. To tackle this issue, the concept of water footprint as a measure to address the potential impacts of water use emerged, attracting the interest of businesses worldwide. Currently, two references exist to assess the water footprint of a product, process, or organization: the water footprint network and ISO 14046. The objective of this paper is to verify whether the application of these two methodologies to the same case study gives consistent results: 1) in the evaluation of different alternatives in terms of identification of water-related hotspots (consumptive and degradative use) and 2) in the identification of the alternative that presents better performance related to water.The two methodologies were applied to a tomato sauce produced in the US that was undergoing a redesign process that involved different packaging alternatives. The results of the study confirmed that the two methodologies provide consistent results in terms of hotspot analysis and decisions among alternatives with reference to consumptive water use; however, the results related to degradative use are not always consistent. Considering this finding, it is important for companies to undertake a comprehensive assessment before making decisions and to understand the reasoning behind the methods and the objective of the indicators used in the assessments.

CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 'Alternative pathways for sustainable energy development and implications for water and food security in the Philippines', , IFPRI, 2016