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Informing national adaptation for sustainable development through spatial systems modelling

Acute climate-change hazards, such as floods or storm surges, can affect a nation’s built and natural environment assets that are critical for development and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To reduce the impacts of such …

The implications of ambitious decarbonisation of heat and road transport for Britain’s net zero carbon energy systems

Decarbonisation of heating and road transport are regarded as necessary but very challenging steps on the pathway to net zero carbon emissions. Assessing the most efficient routes to decarbonise these sectors requires an integrated view of energy and …

A multi-track rail model for estimating journey impacts from extreme weather events: a case study of Great Britain’s rail network

Critical infrastructures vulnerability assessment involves understanding various sociotechnological aspects of modern day infrastructures. While vulnerabilities exist at different scales, failures of large-scale installations in infrastructures are …

Efficient pathways to zero-carbon energy use by water supply utilities: an example from London, UK

Urban water utilities are increasing their use of energy-intensive technologies such as desalination and long-distanced pumped transfers. Under pressure to reduce their energy-related carbon emissions to zero, water utilities have devised a variety …

Global economic impacts of COVID-19 lockdown measures stand out in high-frequency shipping data

The implementation of large-scale containment measures by governments to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus has resulted in large impacts to the global economy. Here, we derive a new high-frequency indicator of economic activity using empirical …

Infrastructure Strategies for Achieving the Global Development Agendas in Small Islands

Small island developing states face particular challenges to ensure their infrastructure promotes social, economic, and environmental well-being. Closing the achievement gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) involves prioritization and …

Regulation of freshwater use to restore ecosystems resilience

Concern about the impacts of water regulation upon the aquatic environment has led to increasingly stringent regulatory constraints on the quantity and timing of freshwater withdrawals. For the time being these regulatory constraints tend to be …

Selecting Indicators and Optimizing Decision Rules for Long-Term Water Resources Planning

Decision rules provide an intuitive framework for water resources planning. Having adopted a rule-based plan, decision makers can monitor critical variables to trigger timely adaptation actions when the variables pass their predetermined thresholds. …

The influence of temporal variability and reservoir management on demand-response in the water sector

Urban water systems can be highly energy intensive. Yet, they are also excellent candidates for demand-response since they possess readily controllable operations and large amounts of storage. However, real-worlds trials have delivered mixed results, …

Water shortage risks for China's coal power plants under climate change

China is the largest electricity producer in the world and more than 70% of its electricity is from coal-fired power plants where water is an indispensable input, primarily for cooling purposes. Water shortages could hamper coal-fired power plants …