Abstract
Biofuel and food crop production compete for scarce arable land and water. The Mexican “tortilla crisis” in 2007 publicly revealed this dilemma. Such intersections can create challenges for developing policies – both at the global and national levels – that secure affordable and accessible food sources. Further, as water resources continue to be stretched, tradeoffs for consumptive uses will become increasingly common. Virtual water accounting is a tool that has been developed to increase our understanding of the way water is used in the production of goods, and particularly how this affects the global distribution of water through trade in these goods. The chapter presents the current understanding of global water resources and the impacts of trade on their distribution. Many linkages exist between energy security, agricultural trade, and water resource sustainability. As our understanding of the complexity of energy development and food ethics increases we will need to utilize tools such as virtual water accounting to inform policy making and to incorporate a wider array of social and environmental goals.
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Partzsch, L., Hughes, S. (2010). Food Versus Fuel: Governance Potential for Water Rivalry. In: Gottwald, FT., Ingensiep, H., Meinhardt, M. (eds) Food Ethics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5765-8_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5765-8_10
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