The "MicroFEWS" project explores and models optimization of renewable energy utilization to increase food, energy, and water (FEW) security in remote microgrid Arctic and Subarctic communities. The power grids in such communities, termed islanded microgrids, represent nuclei around which this study frames the local FEW nexus, and the introduction of renewable energy into these systems provides the perturbations necessary to understand system dynamics.

We characterize the energy requirements of existing and potential food and water-related community infrastructure, then develop the models necessary to understand the system dynamics and optimize their operation within a renewable-hybrid power grid. The MicroFEWs project describes and quantifies the linkages and feedbacks between the hardwired (on-grid) and nonwired (off-grid) drivers of the local FEW nexus in isolated Arctic and Subarctic communities. This process has been developed through close cooperation with community stakeholders from beginning to end.

Our work presumes that isolated Arctic and Subarctic communities constitute microcosms of the broader FEW nexus, and that models of a local system will find conceptual applicability and scalability elsewhere in northern latitudes, isolated communities, and larger systems worldwide.

Food-Energy-Water Dynamics

Our Research Questions

What are the direct and indirect linkages and feedbacks between renewable energy generation and the local drivers of food, energy, and water (FEW) security in Arctic and Subarctic communities?
To what extent can combinations of renewable energy generation and FEW-related infrastructure energy loads be optimized to enhance FEW security in Arctic and Subarctic communities?

Objectives

Develop FEW Framework
Collect Community Data
Investigate Modular Systems
Develop Energy Distribution Models
Synthesize MicroFEWs Model
Conduct Outreach and Develop Capacity

See our objectives in more detail:

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Reports and Publications

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QMuGMkcNzjhGSYws7J7GrsaW2wBU0EDSLrWxKzVmUxI/edit#gid=0

Peer-reviewed

Title	Report Authors
Stoking the Flame: Subsistence and wood energy in rural Alaska, United States, Elsevier, Energy Research and Social Science, 2021	Jennifer Schmidt Amanda Byrd Jennifer Curl Todd J. Brinkman Krista Heeringa
MicroFEWs – A Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Systems Approach to Renewable Energy Decisions in Islanded Microgrid Communities in Rural Alaska, Environmental Engineering Science, 2019	Erin Whitney Srijan Aggarwal Daisy Huang Richard Wies Henry Huntington Jenn Schmidt Aaron Dotson Justus Karenzi
Tool for Optimizing Solar and Battery Storage for Container Farming in a Remote Arctic Microgrid, Energies 2020, 13(19)	Dan Sambor Michelle Wilber Erin Whitney Mark Z. Jacobson
Energy Distribution Modeling for Assessment and Optimal Distribution of Sustainable Energy for On-Grid Food, Energy, and Water Systems in Remote Microgrids, Sustainability, 2021	Erin Whitney Richard Wies Dan Sambor Michele Chamberlin
Applying the food–energy–water nexus concept at the local scale, Nature Sustainability, 2021	Henry Huntington Jennifer Schmidt Philip Loring et al.
Novel wind resource assessment and demand flexibility analysis for community resilience: A remote microgrid case study, Elsevier, Renewable Energy, 2021	Chong Her Dan Sambor Erin Whitney Richard Wies
A Tale of Two Communities: Adopting and Paying for an In-Home Non-Potable Water Reuse System in Rural Alaska, ACS EST Water, 2021	Cara Lucas Barbara Johnson Elizabeth Hodges Snyder Srijan Aggarwal Aaron Dotson

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation Award #1740075 InFEWS/T3: Coupling infrastructure improvements to food-energy-water system dynamics in small cold region communities: MicroFEWs.
Project Leads:
P.I.: Erin Whitney (University of Alaska Fairbanks); Co-P.I.s: Daisy Huang (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Jen Schmidt (University of Alaska Anchorage), Rich Wies (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Srijan Aggarwal (University of Alaska Fairbanks)