The dynamics of water, energy, waste and environment (WEWE) systems

Abstract

The application of system engineering to a single system is well established and much research is currently been done to study the systems engineering of 'system of systems'. However, many systems are not tightly coupled together although their relationships can be complex and changes over time. In such systems, the need for system integration is less, but there is a need to study their interactions especially the effects they have on one another. This paper is focused on the water, energy, waste and environment systems (WEWE) of Singapore. A system dynamics model of WEWE centered on the water system is created to study the tradeoffs between the systems and to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of water policies on the WEWE systems. This paper further discusses whether Singapore will be able to respond to its growing population, their rising demand for water and energy and their increasing waste level, without damaging the environment and makes recommendation on sustainable development policies based on the findings. © 2012 by Eng Seng CHIA.