Quantifying Direct and Indirect Spatial Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus in China

Food, energy, and water resources, which are interconnected with one another, are essential to human beings and sustainable development goals. Existing studies have quantified direct interconnections of food, energy, and water (FEW) systems in China but overlooked their indirect and spatial interconnections through production systems of other products. Quantifying both the direct and indirect spatial interconnections of food, energy, and water systems is the basis of holistic FEW resource management. The spatial interconnections of the FEW systems within China's economic supply chains at the provincial level were quantified from both demand-driven and supply-push perspectives in this study. Results show that food and energy subsystems have tighter coupling relations than the other relationships in the FEW nexus from the demand perspective, and food and water subsystems have tighter coupling relations from the supply perspective. Findings of this study highlight the necessity of demand-side and supply-side measures by identifying critical final consumers and primary suppliers. For example, primary inputs of energy extraction sectors in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Heilongjiang are crucial for national water withdrawals. Sustainable management of FEW resources in China can be better achieved through strengthening the interdepartmental and interregional cooperation from both the demand and supply sides.