Globally, demand for food, water, and energy is rising sharply. The World Economic Forum says that by 2050, demand for food could grow by more than 50%, energy by up to 19%, and water by up to 30%. The increasing scarcity of these resources—and the potential solutions for managing them sustainably—are closely interconnected, calling for integrated approaches.

The World Economic Forum wrote in a report released last July: “Any disruption in one of these resources reinforces vulnerabilities and trade-offs in the others. Such disruptions also create opportunities for sustainable growth, greater resilience, and more equity.” The idea of synergistic solutions within this nexus has been gaining momentum in both the public and private sectors.

One example is a new initiative in California called Project Nexus, which seeks to put this nexus into practice. The innovative project aims to integrate water management and renewable energy production in some of the sunniest and most water-stressed farmland in the United States by covering miles of irrigation canals with solar panels, producing multiple benefits within the water–energy–food framework.

While the panels generate clean energy, they also shade the canals from harsh desert sun, reducing water losses from evaporation and limiting aquatic weed growth that could choke waterways. In addition, the water beneath the panels serves as a natural cooling system. According to a report by SFGATE, this $20 million state-funded initiative could generate up to 1.6 megawatts of renewable power “along with a host of other benefits.”

Beyond these advantages, placing solar panels above existing agricultural infrastructure could provide key benefits compared with traditional solar farms. They can be adopted more quickly and easily because they avoid land-use conflicts, which have become a major obstacle for utility-scale solar projects across the U.S. “Putting solar panels on existing infrastructure does not require altering the landscape, and these relatively small installations can connect to nearby distribution lines, avoiding the complex process of tying into high-voltage transmission needed for large projects,” according to Canary Media.

The outcome of Project Nexus and similar models appears to be a triple win for water, energy, and food, all while using less land. Project scientist Brandi McKuin said: “The challenges of climate change will force us to do more with far fewer resources… so this is just an example of the kind of infrastructure that can make us more resilient.” She added that the project will not release final figures until after a full year of operation, but current analysis shows performance is on track to meet its goals.

Project Nexus is not the first to install solar panels over canals, but it remains among the few such projects worldwide. The U.S. launched its first and only project of this kind in Arizona late last year, generating power for the Pima and Maricopa tribes, together known as the Gila River Indian Community. While many large-scale renewable energy projects have faced land-use disputes tied to tribal lands, the Arizona project demonstrates that the canal model can be an excellent alternative.

David DeJong, director of the Pima-Maricopa irrigation project, told Grist: “Why disrupt sacred lands when we can simply put solar panels over a canal and generate more efficient power?” In line with the spirit of synergistic water–energy solutions, the project is also working on a system to deliver water to the Gila River Indian Community, which faces water scarcity.

Of course, these pilot projects generate far less power than utility-scale solar farms. But research suggests that if the solar canal concept were expanded to cover 8,000 miles of federally owned canals and waterways in the U.S., the impact could be significant. In 2023, a coalition of environmental organizations estimated that installing panels on all such existing infrastructure could generate more than 25 gigawatts of power while preventing the evaporation of tens of billions of gallons of water.

US stock indexes rose during Friday’s trading to record levels in light of demand for the technology sector following the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates.

Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve in Minneapolis, praised the central bank’s decision issued this week to cut the interest rate by 25 basis points, and he sees that a cut at the same pace in the last two meetings of this year will be appropriate.

James Bullard, former Fed member, said that the decision to cut the interest rate by 25 basis points is a good step, and he expects two other cuts with a total of 50 basis points before the end of the current year.

On the trading front, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.1% (equivalent to 33 points) to 46,176 points as of 16:06 GMT, the broader S&P 500 index rose by 0.1% (equivalent to 5 points) to 6,637 points, while the Nasdaq Composite index rose by 0.2% (equivalent to 57 points) to 22,526 points.

Copper prices rose on Friday, supported by signs of improving demand from China, the world’s largest consumer of metals, as buyers there sought to boost inventories ahead of a long national holiday.

Three-month benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) gained 0.4% to $9,982 per metric ton in official open trading.

Even so, the metal remains down 2% from Monday’s peak of $10,192.50 — its highest level in 15 months — after traders took profits following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates on Wednesday.

The Yangshan copper premium — which reflects demand for imported copper into China — jumped 1.8% to $57 a ton on Friday.

Chinese consumers typically purchase copper for restocking ahead of the national holiday running from October 1 to 8, a period that often brings a slowdown in economic activity.

Citi, in a research note, projected copper prices to range between $9,500 and $10,500 a ton in the fourth quarter before climbing to $12,000 in 2026, helped by a weaker dollar at a time when rising metal output won’t be enough to offset growing demand.

The bank also forecast refined copper consumption to rise by 2.9% next year to 27.5 million tons, pushing the global market from a surplus of 63,000 tons this year into a deficit of 308,000 tons.

Other LME metals:

Aluminum was steady at $2,683.5 a ton. It had touched a six-month high of $2,720 on Tuesday, when the cash-to-three-month spread widened to $16 a ton, the highest since March, before narrowing back to $4. Citi noted that aluminum’s underlying market conditions remain “globally balanced,” forecasting an average Q4 price of around $2,650.

Zinc fell 0.7% to $2,896 a ton. While LME-registered inventories have dropped in recent months — signaling tightness in the galvanized steel feedstock — industry sources said spot supply remains ample.

Lead rose 0.1% to $2,008 a ton.

Tin inched up 0.1% to $33,750.

Nickel advanced 0.3% to $15,320.

Bitcoin slipped slightly on Friday after the recent rally fueled by optimism over US interest rate cuts ran out of steam, while markets were also affected by relatively hawkish signals from the Bank of Japan.

Cryptocurrencies more broadly also retreated after recovering part of their late-August losses earlier this week, with caution toward the sector persisting.

Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $116,879.6 by 01:43 AM Eastern Time (05:43 GMT). Despite the modest dip, the world’s largest cryptocurrency was still on track for a 0.9% weekly gain.

Large-scale treasury purchases—led by MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)—failed to support prices this week. Similarly, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) announcement of easier rules for listing crypto-linked exchange-traded products did little to boost the market.

Bitcoin stalls as post-Fed gains fade and BOJ strikes a hawkish tone

Bitcoin had clawed back some of its late-August losses during the first two weeks of September, helped by dip-buying and optimism over an expected Federal Reserve rate cut this week.

But the momentum faded in recent sessions amid rising caution about corporate treasury strategies for crypto investment, with analysts warning of risks to long-term gains from this approach.

Enthusiasm over Fed rate cuts also cooled after the central bank rejected calls for deeper reductions, stressing caution due to persistent inflation pressures. Signs of a weakening US labor market added further uncertainty about the economy’s resilience.

The Bank of Japan emerged as another source of caution Friday after announcing plans to begin selling its large holdings of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Japanese real estate investment trusts (J-REITs).

Although the BOJ kept rates unchanged as expected, the planned asset sales were viewed as hawkish, signaling further tightening in monetary policy. The announcement also kept expectations of an October rate hike firmly in play.

The bank additionally flagged ongoing concerns about the world’s fifth-largest economy.

Cryptocurrency prices today: Limited altcoin moves in a lackluster week

Other cryptos saw little movement Friday and looked set for a subdued weekly performance.

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest crypto, fell 0.8% to $4,532.68 and was mostly flat for the week.

Ripple dropped 1% to $3.0404, down about 2% this week.

Binance Coin (BNB) hovered around $992.90 after topping $1,000 on Thursday, with weekly gains of more than 6%.