Petrobras Tests Cardano Blockchain to Track Sustainable Aviation Fuel Claims and Prevent Double-Counting
Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled energy company, is testing the Cardano blockchain to track sustainable aviation fuel benefits and prevent double-counting of environmental claims. The ongoing research and development collaboration delivered applications for sustainable aviation fuel, known as SAF, and Diesel R, which is the company’s renewable fuel brand.
The SAF project addresses a specific problem in the supply chain that arises when the buyer of a fuel’s environmental benefit differs from the actual buyer or user of the fuel itself. The initiative uses a Book-and-Claim model to let airlines, companies, or passengers receive environmental benefits even when the SAF is produced or used elsewhere. Petrobras developed the SAF platform alongside PUC-Rio University’s Ledger Labs and the Cardano Foundation.
Tokenizing Fuel Attributes on Cardano
The Cardano Foundation case study shows the platform represents SAF environmental attributes as standardized CS-SAF tokens on the Cardano network. These tokens can be created, transferred, checked, and retired. Retirement prevents the same attribute from being claimed a second time, while the digital record traces the allocation back to the original fuel certificate.
The crypto analogy for this mechanism is preventing double spending, applied here to an environmental claim. Travelers can enter their departure and destination airports, calculate a CS-SAF allocation, and receive a certificate showing their route, distance, and allocation. That claim remains linked to the original SAF certificate through metadata aligned with CORSIA, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.
Expanding Supply Chain Records Beyond Aviation
Guidance published on June 16 by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials states that Book-and-Claim changes neither the physical fuel a buyer uses nor its associated emissions. Airlines should disclose supported reductions separately from operational emissions, allowing different value-chain participants to make distinct claims as long as their disclosures do not misrepresent the overall reduction.
Beyond aviation, the Diesel R project developed with PUC-Rio proposes checkpoints across production, transportation, and use. Its aim is a continuous fuel-lifecycle record that could support Scope 3 reporting, covering indirect emissions across a company’s wider value chain. That system would connect information held by suppliers and logistics providers, giving emissions reporting a more traceable supply-chain history as a proposed model within the ongoing research and development work.
What Are CS-SAF Tokens on Cardano?
What is the primary function of the CS-SAF tokens on Cardano?
The standardized CS-SAF tokens represent sustainable aviation fuel environmental attributes on Cardano. They allow tokens to be created, transferred, checked, and retired to prevent the same environmental claim from being used twice.
Who partnered with Petrobras to develop the SAF platform?
Petrobras developed the SAF platform alongside PUC-Rio University’s Ledger Labs and the Cardano Foundation. The collaboration delivered applications for both sustainable aviation fuel and Diesel R.
What guidelines govern the Book-and-Claim model used in the project?
Guidance published on June 16 by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials states that Book-and-Claim changes neither the physical fuel a buyer uses nor its associated emissions. Airlines must disclose supported reductions separately from operational emissions.
Keep reading