A multi-objective assessment for the water-energy-food nexus for rural distributed energy systems

This paper presents a metric based on utopia-tracking approach for measuring the behavior of the food-energy-water nexus. The multi-objective approach considers, for the assessment of the nexus, the food production, energy efficiency and water consumption of the system. The evaluated technological structured consists in a hybrid photovoltaic and wind energy system coupled with the services of fresh and hot water for a rural community. Water utilities meet the housing and agricultural demands. Besides, power generation meets the consumption of hot water and electricity from the residential users. Food production is addressed considering the technological change from agriculture to fish farming. A multi-objective multi-period non-linear programming modeling for the optimal design and operation of a water-energy system is presented. Results show the inner conflicts and synergies among nexus objective functions. In addition, the conflict between the nexus and economic performance of the system is addressed. As a case study, an off-grid rural community in Pacific Coast from Mexico is presented.