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relationships and key factors for reliability, vulnerability, and resilience. Wherever
a coupling exists, it is possible to control for cascading failures and to manage
vulnerability.
FEW infrastructure systems are inherently circular because every producer of
outputs is also a consumer of inputs to some extent. This is especially true for electrical energy and water supplies, and for road-based transportation services, which
are used by practically everyone in the system. Water and energy (especially electricity) are major and non-substitutable inputs to almost every production process
and infrastructure. Ordinary people, or consumers, are part of this “circular economy” because as people consume food, energy, and water, they produce labor that
produces these goods.
The FEW system is connected to every other human and natural system on Earth;
it needs to be understood as the “Food–energy–water-everything” system (FEW
e
).
Some of the more important connections of FEW infrastructure to everything else
are to climate, weather, hydrology, finance, manufacturing, human health, security
and defense, terrestrial ecology, marine ecology, and microbiology.
Circularity can be measured; it is the degree to which an economy, or flows of
goods, services, or information, cycle and feed back to the original source; for
example, if half of a community’s food is produced locally, the circularity of that
food economy is 0.5.
Circularity exists within each of the individual “F,” “E,” and “W” sectors. Oil,
natural gas, coal, and uranium are “primary” energy commodities: they are produced by directly extracting them from the Earth and can directly provide heating
energy. When these primary energy commodities are used as inputs to fuel electrical
power plants, the resulting electrical power is a “secondary” energy source.
Similarly, raw water extracted from rivers, aquifers, and oceans is a primary commodity, but treated potable water may be a secondary commodity if it undergoes
significant treatment, and treated wastewater is always a secondary commodity.
Wild seafood and wild game along with naturally sourced fresh produce are primary
food resources, but processed foods and meats and industrially produced produce
tend to be secondary food sources. The Earth’s biosphere is a producer, transporter,
and storage provider for primary FEW natural resources (especially water); people
merely distribute and consume these commodities, reaping the free benefits of
Earth’s massive natural infrastructure. Secondary commodities are more expensive
than primary commodities, and have much higher life cycle impacts because of the
infrastructure costs and the efficiencies lost in the conversion of coal to electricity,
grain to beef, or river water to tap water.
Electricity is the main energy input to all steps of the water infrastructure, and
roughly 4 percent of US electricity is used to operate the water infrastructure, that
is, moving and treating water and wastewater by public and private entities
(Copeland and Carter 2017). However, regional differences can be significant. In
California, the State Water Project (SWP) pumps water almost 2000 ft over the
Tehachapi Mountains. The SWP is the largest single user of energy in California.
It consumes an average of 5 billion kWh/year, accounting for about 2–3 percent of
all electricity consumed in California. Overall, as much as 19% of the state’s
10 Infrastructure
relationships and key factors for reliability, vulnerability, and resilience. Wherever
a coupling exists, it is possible to control for cascading failures and to manage
vulnerability.
FEW infrastructure systems are inherently circular because every producer of
outputs is also a consumer of inputs to some extent. This is especially true for electrical energy and water supplies, and for road-based transportation services, which
are used by practically everyone in the system. Water and energy (especially electricity) are major and non-substitutable inputs to almost every production process
and infrastructure. Ordinary people, or consumers, are part of this “circular economy” because as people consume food, energy, and water, they produce labor that
produces these goods.
The FEW system is connected to every other human and natural system on Earth;
it needs to be understood as the “Food–energy–water-everything” system (FEW
e
).
Some of the more important connections of FEW infrastructure to everything else
are to climate, weather, hydrology, finance, manufacturing, human health, security
and defense, terrestrial ecology, marine ecology, and microbiology.
Circularity can be measured; it is the degree to which an economy, or flows of
goods, services, or information, cycle and feed back to the original source; for
example, if half of a community’s food is produced locally, the circularity of that
food economy is 0.5.
Circularity exists within each of the individual “F,” “E,” and “W” sectors. Oil,
natural gas, coal, and uranium are “primary” energy commodities: they are produced by directly extracting them from the Earth and can directly provide heating
energy. When these primary energy commodities are used as inputs to fuel electrical
power plants, the resulting electrical power is a “secondary” energy source.
Similarly, raw water extracted from rivers, aquifers, and oceans is a primary commodity, but treated potable water may be a secondary commodity if it undergoes
significant treatment, and treated wastewater is always a secondary commodity.
Wild seafood and wild game along with naturally sourced fresh produce are primary
food resources, but processed foods and meats and industrially produced produce
tend to be secondary food sources. The Earth’s biosphere is a producer, transporter,
and storage provider for primary FEW natural resources (especially water); people
merely distribute and consume these commodities, reaping the free benefits of
Earth’s massive natural infrastructure. Secondary commodities are more expensive
than primary commodities, and have much higher life cycle impacts because of the
infrastructure costs and the efficiencies lost in the conversion of coal to electricity,
grain to beef, or river water to tap water.
Electricity is the main energy input to all steps of the water infrastructure, and
roughly 4 percent of US electricity is used to operate the water infrastructure, that
is, moving and treating water and wastewater by public and private entities
(Copeland and Carter 2017). However, regional differences can be significant. In
California, the State Water Project (SWP) pumps water almost 2000 ft over the
Tehachapi Mountains. The SWP is the largest single user of energy in California.
It consumes an average of 5 billion kWh/year, accounting for about 2–3 percent of
all electricity consumed in California. Overall, as much as 19% of the state’s
10 Infrastructure