This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.07.00

The concept of the water, energy, food nexus is extremely relevant to Kazakhstan as the country faces population growth, economic progress and environmental challenges such as water scarcity, desertification, and climate change. Furthermore, poor sectoral coordination and inadequate infrastructure have caused unsustainable resource use and threaten the long-term water, energy and food security in Kazakhstan. This study presents the key elements required to implement a nexus-based resource management approach in Kazakhstan, by identifying linkages between water resources, energy production and agriculture. A case study illustrates how this methodology can be applied to quantify linkages between the water and energy sectors

© 2016 The Authors. The steel industry is the world's largest industrial source of CO 2 emissions. Recent UK economic policies have led to reduced domestic steel production giving an apparent reduction in national emissions. However, demand for goods made from steel has not reduced. Emissions have thus been transferred not reduced and implementation of UK climate policies may in future expand this 'carbon leakage.' This paper explores how future UK demand for goods made from steel might be supplied while satisfying national climate policies, and how this will influence global CO 2 emissions. Current flows and stocks of steel are estimated from existing databases. Evidence from other developed economies suggests that per capita stocks are tending towards a saturation level so future demand is forecast from population growth and the expected rate of replacement of a stable stock. The carbon intensities of five different steel-making routes are used to predict the allowed scale of future domestic steel production within the industrial emissions allowances set in four energy pathways defined by the UK Government. The remaining requirement for steel must be sourced offshore and the associated emissions are predicted, to give an estimate of the global emissions arising from final demand in the UK. The results show that current UK climate strategy may have a limited effect in reducing the CO 2 emissions of the global steel industry, unless the UK shifts towards producing more of its own steel products with domestic secondary steel-making. This option would also increase the security of UK supply and support an expansion of UK manufacturing.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.01.00

Air exposures occurring in indoor swimming pools are an important public health issue due to their popularity and regular use by the general population, including vulnerable groups such as children and elderly people. More comprehensive information on indoor air quality (IAQ) in swimming pools is thus needed in order to understand health risks, establish appropriate protective limits and provide evidence-based opportunities for improvement of IAQ in these facilities. In this context, twenty public indoor swimming pools located in the Northern Region of Portugal were examined in two sampling campaigns: January-March and May-July 2018. For each campaign, a comprehensive set of environmental parameters was monitored during the entire period of the facilities' operating hours of a weekday, both indoors and outdoors. In addition, four air (1-h samplings) and water samples were collected. Findings show that comfort conditions, ultrafine particles number concentrations and exposure to substances in the indoor air (concentration and composition) is likely to vary greatly from one public indoor swimming pool to another. Trihalomethanes (THM) and dichloroacetonitrile were the predominant disinfection by-products identified in the indoor air but other potentially hazardous volatile organic compounds, such as limonene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, 2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethylnonane, 2- and 3-methylbutanenitrile, acetophenone, benzonitrile, and isobutyronitrile were found to have relevant putative emission sources in the environment of the swimming pools analyzed. Furthermore, indicators of poor ventilation conditions (namely carbon dioxide, relative humidity and existence of signs of condensation in windows) and some water-related parameters (THM levels, conductivity and salinity) were found to be determining factors of the measured airborne THM concentrations that appeared to significantly potentiate the exposure. In summary, this work provides evidence for the need to establish adequate standards for the comprehensive evaluation of IAQ in public swimming pools, in order to guide further development of evidence-based prevention/remediation strategies for promoting healthy environments in swimming pools.