Realization of Circular Economy in the Food-Energy-Water Nexus Through Tuning Input-Output Matrix : An Optimization Approach

Yi-Ting Chiu ； Yu-Ching Lee ； Hsiao-Fan Wang

《International Journal of Operations Research》 18卷3期 (2021/09) Pp. 67-77

https://doi.org/10.6886/IJOR.202109_18(3).0002

摘要

Although considerable progress has been achieved in science, technology, and living standards, the accompanying environmental destruction and scarcity of resources cause the awareness of sustainable economic development. Circular Economy (CE) has been recognized as a promising solution. In the past, any national policies regarding economic development were to use the existing industry structure to analyze the relationship and correlations among industries. However, to predict the potential increment on the value-added of a prospective policy as implementing CE, re-evaluation of the industry structure is necessary. In this study, a nonlinear optimization model was established to provide a novel industry input-output structure that can balance the supply and demand while waste is avoided, the economic benefits remain maximized. The proposed model focused on food, energy, and water as a FEW Nexus because food, energy, and water are the required living resources. The results reveal that apart from the suggested development of renewable energy, the proposed industry structure can not only achieve a closed-loop FEW Nexus but also considerably promote the economy. A case study of the Taiwan economy was provided for illustration.

關鍵字

Circular Economy ； Food-Energy-Water Nexus (FEW Nexus) ； NLP ； Leontief's Equilibrium Theory ； Taiwan Domestic Economy