Planning of Integrated Water-Energy-Food-Environment Systems Using Open Software

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Recording of Wednesday, June 19, 2024 | The smarter E Europe 2024 | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 15:09 .

Doctoral Project Aims to Facilitate the Planning of Integrated Water, Food, and Energy Systems Using Open Source Software

The speaker outlines a doctoral project focused on facilitating the planning of integrated Water, Technology, and Food (WTG) systems through open-source software to support farmers and local communities. These systems include agrivoltaics, which combine solar power with agriculture to produce electricity, crops, and potentially harvested rainwater. The project also explores solar-powered irrigation and nature-based solutions like constructed wetlands for water treatment. Key challenges identified are the lack of holistic models for these systems and inadequate data availability in the global south. Therefore, objectives include developing tools that facilitate technology selection based on site-specific conditions while sustaining environmental integrity. Two main components were developed: an Open Water and Food Environment System Modeling Framework (a construction kit for integrating various technologies), and a techno-economic database. This framework supports configurators that optimize system designs by minimizing costs and environmental impacts. Case studies in Lebanon (wastewater biogas production) and Germany (agrivoltaic systems) were used to validate this approach through qualitative interaction analysis between different sectors such as food waste conversion into renewable energy. Data from sources like NASA informed resource collection strategies ensuring spatial coverage suitability via multi-criteria analysis techniques. These efforts culminate in pre-feasibility studies or site-tailored design plans aimed at supporting decision-making processes necessary for implementing WTG systems effectively while addressing basic water-food demands sustainably.

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Julian Fleischmann
Reseracher and PhD Student
University of Freiburg

In this session, we take a look at the latest developments in decentralized water-energy-food supply technologies and systems.

Speaker

Dr. Philipp Blechinger
Head of Unit Off-Grid Systems
Reiner Lemoine Institut gGmbH
Germany

To Talk

Speaker

Bärbel Höhn
BMZ Special Representative for Energy in Africa
Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Germany

To Talk

Speaker

Stefan Trittler
Head of Innovation / Project Principal
Asantys Systems GmbH
Germany

To Talk

Speaker

Jessica Berneiser
Researcher
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE
Germany

To Talk

Speaker

Deepak Mohapatra
Senior Officer - Business & Market Development
Alliance for Rural Electrification
Belgium

To Talk

To Talk

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