Assessment record First submission

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Learner Registration Number P750687

Diploma in Engineering (601/7580/1)
Programme Title Pearson BTEC Level 3 National
Extended Diploma in Engineering Learner Name Shabir Ahmed
(601/7588/6)
Alternative power sources and the
Assignment Title Assessor Name RME / PJP
benefits of reducing travel
Unit / Component Number
Unit 57: Sustainable Transport
and Title
Deadline 12th December 2022 Date Submitted 12/12/22
Has an extension to the deadline been approved by the Assessor due to extenuating
circumstances?
Targeted Criteria
Assessment comments
Criteria achieved
57 / AB.D1 YES / NO
57 / B.M2 YES / NO
57 / A.M1 YES / NO
57 / B.P2 YES / NO
57 / A.P1 YES / NO

General comments

Learner Declaration - I certify that the evidence submitted for Learner signature S.Ahmed
this assignment is my own. I have clearly referenced any sources
used in the work. I understand that false declaration is a form of
Date 12/12/22
malpractice.
Assessor declaration - I certify that to the best of my knowledge Assessor signature RME / PJP
the evidence submitted for this assignment is the learner’s own.
The learner has clearly referenced any sources used in the work. I
Date
understand that false declaration is a form of malpractice.
Figure 1: Figure 2:
Carbon Specific details
footprint of carbon
calculator footprint
(WWF) (WWF)

My carbon footprint showcases how I consume and leave a carbon footprint within my home, how i eat food, travelling,
and in general stuff including groceries. As you can see my footprint is equivalent to 7.5 tonnes which isn’t as bad as i
rarely travel in a car, mainly bus journeys or walking. My food is mainly locally sourced and I have meat sometimes which
requires less gas to create the meals. What’s amazing is my consumption in my own home where it’s only at 16% and
less than a tonne saving money on bills and wasting energy.
Figure 3: Figure 4:
Dads Specific details
carbon of carbon
footprint footprint (WWF)
(WWF)

As you can see my dad’s carbon footprint is more compared to mine as his colour is yellow and produces 10.9 tonnes. He
travels around in a SUV which requires a lot more petrol to travel to his destination and back. He travels a lot to work and
only uses the bus as well as walking around locally. His other sections are less compared to my stats as he rarely isn’t
home so it wouldn’t really be fair comparing them. The main factor is travelling as it’s at least over 50% which means a lot
of carbon monoxide is produced which isn’t beneficial for the environment.
Starting point: Home, Alum rock

Destination: School, City centre/Nechells B7 4AG

Mode of transport: Bus, then walking

Purpose: A good learning place for education where i

can get my qualifications in order to get my dream
job. This isn’t as far as its around 1.6km - 2.4km
which is close to me since it’s near my previous
school. To reduce this i can walk it to school, but i
have to consider the factors of going school early and
making sure the weather isn’t bad.
Starting point: Home, Alum rock

Destination: Mosque, Alum rock

Mode of transport: Walking

Purpose: I go to mosque to fulfill my religious

beliefs and try expanding my knowledge within my
religion. This is about 0.8km which is very close as
it's in the same area. The time is the same if I go
through the different roads shown on the map as
it’ll still take 10 minutes to complete. This is perfect
at reducing my travel as i can already walk it to my
destination.
Starting point: Home, Alum rock

Destination: Powerleague, Aston

Mode of transport: Car

Purpose: For physical fitness and I enjoy the sport

football as it’s really fun and entertaining. The
distance is around 3.9km which is really quick
when going by car, the only other route that might
take longer is by going on a bus or walking it. The
bus can vary as it’ll take time waiting for the bus.
To reduce my travel i could walk it to my
destination, but i’ll have to manage my time by
leaving the house earlier.
 1.5 x 105 = 157.5

3.9 x 150 = 585

Figure 5: Carbon footprint of travel per kilometer (Ritchie, 2020)

Plug in electric vehicle powertrain:
Plug in electric vehicle powertrain use batteries to power an electric motor and
other fuel, such as gasoline, to power an internal combustion engine. The
batteries are can be charged by using a wall outlet or charging equipment
through the internal combustion engine or regenerative braking. Regenerative
brakes use electric motors compared to a traditional friction braking system to
slow down or stop a car.
Figure 6: The plug-in 4-wheel drive (4WD)
An economic effect with this is that it’ll increase electricity bills since you can Hybrid Electric Vehicle Powertrain …
charge the vehicle at home as well as it charges at a slow rate. As of today the (research gate)
bills keep on increasing and you wouldn't save as much money buying an
electric vehicle. The purchase of the vehicle is very costly which might make
the insurance expensive as well.

The social effects are the more people that purchase electrical vehicles then
they’ll have to produce more local charging stations to recharge the vehicles. If
at least most people switched from petrol/diesel cars to electrical cars then it
will be a 10% increased demand for manufacturers to produce electrical cars.
This will increase business as well as better advertisements for the vehicles.

The environmental effects is that it's more sustainable than petrol/diesel cars
as it emits less carbon dioxide and is run on renewable energy sources.
However, to manufacture the cars they use non-renewable sources such as
fossil fuels to provide energy for production. The cars aren’t fully green,
meaning that its only contribution to sustainability is using renewable sources
when driving around.
Hydrogen fuel cell powertrain:
A hydrogen fuel cell powertrain is combining hydrogen and air for the
catalyst, a fuel cell then generates electricity to drive an electric motor by
only using water vapor. Comparing this to a standard battery, a fuel cell
is an energy converter rather it being a storage device.

The economic reasons can vary as there can be a huge money loss
investing into a hydrogen company or being successful. If it becomes a
huge hit, most companies can earn a huge profit and making it harder
for other companies to follow as it can look like they’re copying original
ideas.

The social impact is that less people will be affected by pollution as

hydrogen fuel cell cars won’t emit carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. Figure 7: Hydrogen fuel cell (Delaware)
Hydrogen is essential for human life as it fuels the sun, which converts
millions of hydrogen into helium every second. Two hydrogens and one
oxygen creates water which is very important for humans as they need
70% of water in their system.

The environment impact is that the engine relies on water rather than
using petrol which is beneficial for global warming as it only emits water,
heat and electricity and not carbon dioxide. The main issue with using
water is that in order to start the car it’ll take at least 65% of water where
there’s only 35% left without even moving the car.
Hybrid petrol powertrain:
A hybrid petrol powertrain is when a hybrid uses a combination of petrol
and electricity in order to power the vehicle. This means the car burn
less fuel compared to normal petrol cars, so it can run more efficiently.
The emit less greenhouse gases, making the car cheaper to tax and
more beneficial for the environment.

The economic effects are companies struggle to sell hybrid cars as

they reduce the price by 25% in order to achieve the sale. The fuel
prices would be very high depending on the size of the engine as well
as gas station rates since it keep going up day by day. It has similar
properties to a petrol car so it relies on petrol so it wouldn’t be different
in prices. Figure 8: Hybrid petrol powertrain (hybrid tech)

The social aspect of this is that some people may have to purchase
hybrid cars in order to go where they want, for example city centre is a
green zone so you’ll need a hybrid or electric car. This can be a safety
hazard for pedestrians as they can’t hear the car approach them so
they would have to be extra cautious crossing the road.

The environmental effects is that it is slightly better than regular petrol

cars as it contributes less to global warming despite still using normal
fuel. It doesn’t rely on fossil fuels as much meaning it produces less
pollution keeping the air and streets clean for the public.
Biofuels:
Biofuels are liquid or gaseous transport fuels, including biodiesel and bioethanol,
m]which is made from biomass. They’re a renewable alternative compared to fossil
fuels as it helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The economical issues are quite beneficial as it includes using farms to create the
organic material, in order to do this they’ll need to create jobs where they find people
with near enough experience to get the job done. It generates tax revenue for the
government making this an advantage as both them the workers and boss are able
to generate money for themselves and be able to pay the government. However, it
can be costly to get land for this and get rid of the waste as it depends on the size of
the land they’ll need.
Figure 9: Biofuel process (L, 2022)
The social impacts can help people get jobs and earn a living for their family as well
as be able to create crops. This can be an issue though as food prices can be
increased making it harder for the public to buy food for their family. The excessive
use of fertilizer can harm workers as it creates air pollution making it harder for them
to breath.

The environmental issues that take place are the use of fertilizers as it requires
nitrogen components to make the crops grow, this increases the emissions of carbon
dioxide which is very harmful and contributing to global warming. This can cause
deforestation as farmers will need more space for crops in order to make money and
feed themselves. It can damage animal habitats which is a major risk for some
species as they might not adapt in other environments.
Sustainability:
Sustainability is the ability to maintain or even support a process during a long
period of time. It can be broken down into 3 main concepts: Social (people),
Economy (profits), and Environment (planet).

Environmental sustainability is responsible to conserve natural resources and

protect global ecosystems to support health and well being, now and for future
generations. This means that non-renewable resources have to be conserved
so that they aren’t used up quickly as its a finite source, but the advantage to
this is that it’s are cheap to acquire.

Social sustainability is an easier way for businesses to manage and identify Figure 10: Importance of sustainability
business impacts towards employees, workers (in order from highest rank to (Pearson, 2019)
low), customers, and local communities. Companies that identify these factors
are likely to recognise the sustainability issues with their community as well as
workers. This regards to issues helping with positive and negative impacts that
have taken place for certain employees or people in the community.

Economical sustainability refers to those that practise ways of supporting

long-term economic growth without negatively impacting social,
environmental, and cultural aspects of the community. An example of this can
be reducing wasteful systems where you can find innovating ways to reduce
land use or cut down use of resourced material.
Conclusion:
To conclude to this, the best alternative power source would be a plug in electric vehicle powertrain, this is because of its
sustainability of using renewable sources in order to match the future standards. To match future needs as everything will be
modernised electric vehicles would be perfect as finite fuel options such as fossil fuels wouldn’t last long. This includes the
alternative power sources such as hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid petrol. They have their own good qualities as hydrogen fuel
cell requires the use of water and can be sustainable due to it emitting only water vapor, heat and electricity. Hybrid petrol can
be good to drive around as it requires using less fossil fuels compared to normal petrol vehicles. The reason I chose plug in
vehicle powertrain as its use of electricity helps benefit the environment despite its money issues. The use of electricity on
roads can help reduce levels of pollution saving humans as well leaving the air clean.
WWF (no date) WWF Footprint Calculator. Available at: https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/ (Accessed: December 12, 2022).

Ritchie, H. (2020) Which form of transport has the smallest carbon footprint?, Our World in Data. Available at:
https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint (Accessed: December 12, 2022).

The plug-in 4-wheel drive (4WD) Hybrid Electric Vehicle Powertrain ... (no date). Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-plug-in-4-wheel-drive-4WD-hybrid-electric-vehicle-powertrain_fig1_3361387
50 (Accessed: December 12, 2022).
Delaware, U.O. (no date) Powertrain of the University of Delaware's Fuel Cell/Battery Hybrid bus ... Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Powertrain-of-the-University-of-Delawares-fuel-cell-battery-hybrid-bus_fig1_33
1427796 (Accessed: December 12, 2022).
Hybrid tech (no date) How hybrids work, www.fueleconomy.gov - the official government source for fuel
economy information. Available at: https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/hybridtech.shtml (Accessed: December
12, 2022).

L, J. (2022) Breakthrough in low cost biofuels from biomass, Carbon Credits. Available at:
https://carboncredits.com/biofuels-from-biomass-lowers-prices/ (Accessed: December 12, 2022).

Pearson (2019) The importance of Sustainability, The world's learning company. Available at:
https://www.pearson.com/ped-blogs/pearsonstudents/2019/10/the-importance-of-sustainability.html (Accessed:
December 12, 2022).