50 CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW Energy, food, and water are inextricably and increasingly linked First, water is an essential input for energy generation as well as food production, especially as it pe[.]
50 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW Energy, food, and water are inextricably and increasingly linked First, water is an essential input for energy generation as well as food production, especially as it pertains to agricultural irrigation Similarly, electricity is a fundamental requirement for water treatment and transportation, food production, and the food supply chain Agricultural products and wastes can then be a major source for bio energy in promoting renewable energy development This fact notwithstanding, Vietnam has been less motivated to investigate the linkages among these sectors, primarily due to the nation’s historical assumption about the unlimited availability of natural resources as water, primary energy, and land Therefore, institutional and policy settings have traditionally focused on individual sectors, to maximise each sector’s economic gains, without thoroughly considering the broad impacts on other sectors Chapter provides insights regarding the multifaceted connections between the energy, food, and water sectors, as well as a historical evolution of this linkage in Vietnam, from its formation and development to its future pathways These linkages are likely to substantially impact the country’s future socio-economic development, as environmental impacts will inevitably be a trade-off without a disciplined political framework to confront this scenario Further, underestimating the significance and impacts of the energy–food–water connections can even escalate the security challenges from the vastly increasing demand among these sectors Therefore, this chapter aims to review existing studies on the energy–food–water security nexus with a relevance to or an implication for Vietnam This will provide a solid background to develop an appropriate research perspective on the energy–food–water security nexus relative to Vietnam’s socio-economic development This chapter is organised as follows: Section 3.1 summarises existing studies on the energy–food–water nexus; Section 3.2 analyses major limitations of these studies; Section 3.3 discusses the appropriateness of the selected method in this research; and Section 3.4 concludes