Water, energy and food security: integrated technology solutions for sustainability

Water, Energy and Food Security for all are the primary aspirations of the global community. It is also singularly the most important and challenging "Global Strategic Problem" the global community faces today, for water, energy and food are inseparably linked and global concerns about limited access to these three fundamentals for life are compounded by growing concerns about their future availability and sustainability. To effectively deal with this Global Strategic Problem - and realize long-term water, energy, and food security - we need to acknowledge and better understand its key drivers and issues. For example, water, energy and food are not only inseparably linked, but they also underpin the development and expansionary nature of current global trade and productivity models. That we have physically and environmentally limited resources at our disposal presents an enormous challenge to find niche and technological innovations if we are to achieve desired levels of economic prosperity. This paper seeks to demonstrate how the power of thought-leadership in integrating technologies to provide sustainable solutions underpins our ability to effectively address the Global Strategic Problem. It is argued that the development and application of integrated technology solutions is critical if the global community is to achieve any sustainable level of water, energy and food security. Several examples of innovative solutions using both current and emerging technologies are presented across the three sectors, and their interdependencies discussed from a water, energy and food security nexus perspective.