Synergetic management of the water-energy-food nexus for cropland ecosystems under climate change: Toward a multistakeholder-based systematic optimization approach

The optimal management of the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus in cropland ecosystems (CEs) can help promote food security and resource sustainability. However, the intrinsic interactions among multisource energy, water, the yield-formation process, and the economic-environmental effect have not been systematically quantified and determined. This paper constructs a WEF-based cooperative optimization model in CEs under climate-change conditions, which is capable of reflecting the reciprocal transformations and coordinated interactions among light energy, thermal energy and biomass energy in CEs and of balancing the energy/water use efficiency, economy and environmental factors considering the biomass residue potential. The method is tested and implemented on the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China. The results show that (1) a cooperative relationship between energy utilization efficiencies and economic benefits was identified. For example, if the utilization efficiencies of light and heat energy increase by 1%, the economic benefits increase by 13.59%, and the biomass energy production potential increases by 10.82%. (2) The aboveground residue can be reused in power generation, carbonization, anaerobic fermentation, feed preparation and sales applications to increase the economic benefits by 3.38%–20.70%. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of multiple renewable energy management and the bound with water and food production, promoting the sustainable development of agroecosystems.