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A food, energy, or water system might be defined by the set of sources, movements, uses, and sinks that constitute a way of understanding the unified whole in
the context of a particular place and time. There are many parts, and the interactions
between them are by no means simple; the relationships may be
For example:
• Nonlinear (e.g., water withdrawals may have thresholds beyond which significant changes in ecosystem function occur or where certain uses are prohibited).
• Multivariate (e.g., changes in energy demand depend on weather conditions, the
rate economic growth, building size and location, demographic changes, and
other factors).
• Multiscalar (e.g., food production occurs at the local level; domestic markets at
a regional level; and trade at an international level; with each affected by factors
at that level).
Further, a system’s boundaries may be multifaceted (e.g., a food–energy–water
system may have boundaries associated with an agricultural region, a regional electric grid; a watershed; and several political jurisdictions).
Studying such systems requires the careful use of science and much effort, but
complicated systems are still fundamentally predictable in principle.
As the number of simply interacting subsystems within a system increases, the
number of interactions increases geometrically, and systems become complicated
very quickly. For example, a water system in isolation might have N interactions, an
energy–water system might have 2N + 2 interactions (energy and water separately,
plus each of their effects on the other), and a food–energy–water system might have
3N + 6 interactions following the same pattern. Water systems are determined by
processes of supply and demand for water, water balances, and water quality, but
when energy is included, every change to the water system cascades to affect the
demand for energy to produce water and the demand for water to produce energy.
Complicated systems are predictable in practice if you can afford the workforce,
data collection, and computing power necessary. Engineers are specialists in designing and managing complicated systems—like the space shuttle, the power grid, a
fuel refinery, or a computer.
Complex systems are different because although they may have many parts or
only two, they are fundamentally unpredictable to some degree, and chaotic because
feedback renders the traditional idea of cause and effect meaningless. “Interaction”
is a general term for all kinds of connections, correlations, feedbacks, and causeeffect relationships—both biophysical and human. Forcings or controls are interactions by which one subsystem causes effects in another subsystem. Feedback
involves loops of causes and effects. For example, when increased demand for water
increases demand for energy to produce water which reduces the supply of water
and increases the cost of both the energy and the water. More broadly, weather conditions, policy decisions, ecological impacts, and economic activities are all difficult to predict and have two-way dependencies and impacts on the demand and
production of FEW commodities over different timeframes.
P. Saundry and B. L. Ruddell
A food, energy, or water system might be defined by the set of sources, movements, uses, and sinks that constitute a way of understanding the unified whole in
the context of a particular place and time. There are many parts, and the interactions
between them are by no means simple; the relationships may be
For example:
• Nonlinear (e.g., water withdrawals may have thresholds beyond which significant changes in ecosystem function occur or where certain uses are prohibited).
• Multivariate (e.g., changes in energy demand depend on weather conditions, the
rate economic growth, building size and location, demographic changes, and
other factors).
• Multiscalar (e.g., food production occurs at the local level; domestic markets at
a regional level; and trade at an international level; with each affected by factors
at that level).
Further, a system’s boundaries may be multifaceted (e.g., a food–energy–water
system may have boundaries associated with an agricultural region, a regional electric grid; a watershed; and several political jurisdictions).
Studying such systems requires the careful use of science and much effort, but
complicated systems are still fundamentally predictable in principle.
As the number of simply interacting subsystems within a system increases, the
number of interactions increases geometrically, and systems become complicated
very quickly. For example, a water system in isolation might have N interactions, an
energy–water system might have 2N + 2 interactions (energy and water separately,
plus each of their effects on the other), and a food–energy–water system might have
3N + 6 interactions following the same pattern. Water systems are determined by
processes of supply and demand for water, water balances, and water quality, but
when energy is included, every change to the water system cascades to affect the
demand for energy to produce water and the demand for water to produce energy.
Complicated systems are predictable in practice if you can afford the workforce,
data collection, and computing power necessary. Engineers are specialists in designing and managing complicated systems—like the space shuttle, the power grid, a
fuel refinery, or a computer.
Complex systems are different because although they may have many parts or
only two, they are fundamentally unpredictable to some degree, and chaotic because
feedback renders the traditional idea of cause and effect meaningless. “Interaction”
is a general term for all kinds of connections, correlations, feedbacks, and causeeffect relationships—both biophysical and human. Forcings or controls are interactions by which one subsystem causes effects in another subsystem. Feedback
involves loops of causes and effects. For example, when increased demand for water
increases demand for energy to produce water which reduces the supply of water
and increases the cost of both the energy and the water. More broadly, weather conditions, policy decisions, ecological impacts, and economic activities are all difficult to predict and have two-way dependencies and impacts on the demand and
production of FEW commodities over different timeframes.
P. Saundry and B. L. Ruddell