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MAT2920: Assignment 2

1 Introduction

This assignment contributes 60% to the final assessment of the module. It is directly linked to the content of the lectures. You need to choose ONE of the following three essay topics. Your report should not exceed 3,000 words in the main body, excluding any references, legends, tables or figures. It should be formatted in accordance with the House Style document.

The essay should be submitted by 1600 GMT on Monday 12^th December.

NB: This assignment should be submitted BOTH as a Turnitin assignment and as a Blackboard assignment. This is so we can run a plagiarism check and also double mark the assignment.

2 Essay topics

2.1 Topic 1

Imagine you are an advisor to a new UK Government. The Government wants to move the country to net zero CO₂ as rapidly as possible whilst preserving the country’s industrial capacity and transport systems. Your job is to develop a plan that is credible, both politically and technically, for electricity generation that would allow the Government to achieve net zero CO₂ within 10 years, and as low as possible within 5 years.

Points to consider:

· How much generation is required with a large scale switch to electrification?

· If relying on electricity imports how much green generating capacity do the countries you are importing from actually have? Can you rely on these imports?

· Which technologies can deliver now rather than at some indefinite point in the future; what is a realistic timescale to install the required capacity using both renewable and/or nuclear technologies?

· How will you ensure baseload provision?

· What other things need to change to enable net zero CO₂ for any electricity proposal you make, and how acceptable do you think these changes will be (the latter part of assignment 1 could be helpful in considering this).

You may find the scenarios considered by David Mackay in his book “Sustainable energy: Without the hot air” useful but you should NOT simply reproduce one of these. http://www.withouthotair.com/

This calculator is also a useful resource in terms of indicating the effect of different measures on emissions: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carbon-calculator#the-mackay-carbon-calculator

2.2 Topic 2

Consider yourself as a scientific advisor to the government on the application of electrochemical devices (e.g fuel cells and batteries) for road transportation and their environmental impact. Provide the government with your preferred choice (or choices, as appropriate) for the next 20 years and give your reasoning.

Context: The challenges and opportunities facing road transport today are unprecedented. The environmental impact of road vehicles is under intense scrutiny and the range of powertrain technologies and fuel choices available is greater than ever. For example, automotive manufacturers are actively working to reduce emissions, however they are not in agreement on how to do that. Some prefer battery-electric vehicles (eg Volkswagen), while others champion hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (eg Honda) as the superior zero-emission technology.

2.3 Topic 3

You are undertaking a consultancy job for a large cement company. They produce Portland cement, as well as using their cement products for construction projects. The UK government has recently issued a carbon tax on CO₂ emissions, and this company needs to reduce their carbon footprint by 50 % in order to remain operational. Provide your advice to the company to achieve this. Your advice should take one of the following directions and include the examples of materials to be used. It should also explain advantages and disadvantages of the methodology.

· Use of alternative fuels for combustion in manufacturing process

· Use and/or production of alternative cements for construction projects

· Sequestration of CO₂ from the flue gas of the cement production plant

The following articles may also be useful in helping with this topic.

· https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5b03508

· https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2009.01.020

· https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2009.01.014

· https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/105445/

· https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2013.12.004

3 Marking scheme

The essay will be marked independently by two markers using the marking scheme given in Table 1. Feedback on the report will be provided by both markers.

Table 1: Marking scheme for the assignment

Introduction	Mark range
A complete and lucid introduction to the essay with outstanding contextualization of the content	7.0 – 10.0
A thorough introduction to the essay which clearly places the content in context	6.0 – 6.5
A satisfactory introduction to the essay which places the content in context	5.0 – 5.5
A poor introduction to the essay with limited contextualization of the content	4.0 – 4.5
An unsatisfactory introduction to the essay with little or no contextualisation	0.0 – 3.5
Evidence base used to support argument	Mark range
Impressive and high quality evidence based on a very wide range of relevant sources	7.0 – 10.0
Good quality evidence based on a wide range of relevant sources	6.0 – 6.5
Acceptable evidence base based on a reasonable number of relevant sources	5.0 – 5.5
A poor evidence base based on a low number of sources/ sources with limited relevance	4.0 – 4.5
Unsatisfactory and low quality evidence based on few if any sources/ sources with no relevance	0.0 – 3.5
Analysis and discussion	Mark range
Excellent analysis and discussion based on strong evidence	28.0 – 40.0
Analysis and discussion shows additional insight	24.0 – 27.5
Satisfactory analysis and discussion	20.0 – 23.5
Analysis and discussion showed limited depth of consideration	16.0 – 19.5
Analysis and discussion unsatisfactory or flawed	0.0 – 15.5
Conclusions and recommendations	Mark range
Excellent conclusions and recommendations strongly linked to the evidence and argument presented	7.0 – 10.0
Good conclusions and recommendations with good links to the evidence and argument presented	6.0 – 6.5
Acceptable conclusions and recommendations connected to the evidence and argument presented	5.0 – 5.5
Poor conclusions and recommendations with limited connection to the evidence and argument presented	4.0 – 4.5
Unsatisfactory conclusions and recommendations with little or no connection to the evidence and argument presented	0.0 – 3.5
Quality of production/presentation	Mark range
The essay was produced to publication quality. It was virtually free from errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation. Figures and tables were produced to the highest quality.	7.0 – 10.0
The essay was produced to a high standard. It contained minimal errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation. Figure and tables were produced to a high quality.	6.0 – 6.5
The essay was produced to a good standard, but it was let down by some errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation. Figures and tables contained some errors/ were not well presented or unclear.	5.0 – 5.5
The essay was produced to a low standard with many typographical errors and poor quality figures and tables.	4.0 – 4.5
The quality of the production was unsatisfactory with many errors in all components.	0.0 – 3.5