A water-energy-food nexus assessment of climate change impacts on biomass and hydropower resources

WATNEX

WATNEX project is aimed at developing new approaches for assessment of climate change impacts on natural resources of Nordic River. The key foci of the project are the interconnections of various nexus components, the tradeoff of natural resources between these systems, the effects of climate change on these interconnections, and the emerging future scenario for the nexus in the Nordic regions.
Raudalsvatnet
Raudalsvatnet – Headwater Reservoir in Otta River Basin-Norway

Project information

Project duration

-

Funded by

Other International

Project funder

Norges forskningsråd/ The Research Council of Norway

Project coordinator

Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

Unit and faculty

Water, Energy and Environmental Engineering
Faculty of Technology

Contact information

Project leader

Researchers

Project description

The WatNEX project aims to develop methods to assess impacts of climate change on water resources in river basins considering “in parallel” changes accruing in energy and biomass sectors. This complex and integrated

management scheme is often referred to as Water-Energy-Food (WEF) or Climate-Land-Energy-Water (CLEW) Nexus. Understanding and developing methods to analyse and manage this “sectorial integration” is

a major scientific challenge in water resources research.

The WatNEX project aims to:

1) improve the understanding of Climate-Water-Energy-Food interactions,

2) develop integrated modelling approaches to assess complex WEF-interactions and climate change impacts in river basins,

3) assess impacts of climate change and future land use and energy scenarios on water resources and

4) recommend sustainable management of water, energy and bioeconomic resources in Norway.

Research groups

Hydrosystems Engineering and Management