Information processing system, information processing method and program

Abstract

To provide an information processing system capable of supporting emission trading.SOLUTION: An information processing system includes: an emission right storage part for storing emission right specific information for identifying emission rights that can offset greenhouse gas emissions, offsettable emissions, the greenhouse gas emissions that can offset by the emission rights, and attributes of the emission rights, in a state in which they are associated with each other; an offset attribute storage part for storing the attributes of the emission rights that can offset emissions relating to activities in association with activity specific information for identifying the activities; an input part for receiving input of activity specific information for identifying activities for which a user desires to offset and emissions relating to the activities; and an emission right acquisition part for referring to the offset attribute storage part and the emission right storage part, to identify, attributes corresponding to the input activity specific information and acquiring the emission right specific information corresponding to the identified attributes and the offsettable emissions equal to or more than the input emissions.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Carbon dioxide emission rights are being traded (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2001-306839 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Deciding which emission rights to purchase is a hassle.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and has an object to provide a technique capable of supporting emissions trading. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The main invention of the present invention for solving the above problem is an information processing system comprising: an emission rights storage unit that stores emission rights specific information that specifies emission rights capable of offsetting greenhouse gas emissions, an offsettable amount which is the amount of greenhouse gas that can be offset by the emission rights, and attributes of the emission rights in association with each other; an offset attribute storage unit that stores the attributes of the emission rights capable of offsetting the emissions related to the activity in association with activity specific information that specifies the activity; an input unit that accepts input of the activity specific information that specifies the activity a user wishes to offset and the emissions related to the activity; and an emission rights acquisition unit that refers to the offset attribute storage unit and the emission rights storage unit to specify the attributes corresponding to the input activity specific information, and acquires the emission rights specific information corresponding to the specified attributes and the offsettable amount that is equal to or greater than the input emissions.

[0007] Other problems and solutions disclosed in this application will be made clear in the description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and the drawings. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The present invention can support emissions trading. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overall configuration of an information processing system. [Diagram 2] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a management server 2. FIG. [Diagram 3] 2 illustrates an example of the software configuration of a management server 2. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining processing for invalidation information in which automatic invalidation is “false.” [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining processing for invalidation information in which automatic invalidation is "true." DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] <Summary of the Invention> The present invention will be described below with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof. [Item 1] an emission credit storage unit that stores, in association with one another, emission credit specification information that specifies emission credits that can offset greenhouse gas emissions, an offsettable amount that is the amount of the greenhouse gas that can be offset by the emission credits, and attributes of the emission credits; an offset attribute storage unit that stores the attributes of the emission credits that can offset the emissions related to an activity, in association with activity specification information that specifies the activity; an input unit that receives input of the activity specification information that specifies the activity for which a user wishes to offset and the emission amount related to the activity; an emission credit acquisition unit that refers to the offset attribute storage unit and the emission credit storage unit to identify the attribute corresponding to the input activity specification information, and acquires the emission credit specification information corresponding to the identified attribute and the offsettable amount that is equal to or greater than the input emission amount; An information processing system comprising: [Item 2] The information processing system according to item 1, said attributes include a methodology for said emission credits; An information processing system comprising: [Item 3] The information processing system according to item 1, the offset attribute storage unit stores rule specification information that specifies a rule related to the report of the emission amount, the activity specification information, and the attribute in association with each other; the input unit accepts input of the emission amount, the activity specifying information, and the rule specifying information; the emission credit acquisition unit identifies the attributes corresponding to the input rule specifying information and activity specifying information; An information processing system comprising: [Item 4] The information processing system according to item 1, a request receiving unit that receives an invalidation request from the user; an invalidation processing unit that executes, in response to the request, a process for invalidating the emission amount related to the activity indicated by the input activity specification information, using the emission credit specified by the acquired emission credit specification information; An information processing system comprising: [Item 5] The information processing system according to item 1, the emission credit storage unit stores the emission credit identification information, the offsettable amount, and the attribute in association with a minimum amount of the emission credits that can be offset; an invalidation information storage unit that stores invalidation information including the activity specification information and the emission amount; an invalidation processing unit that performs processing related to invalidating the emission amount using the emission credit; Equipped with the emission credit acquisition unit selects a plurality of pieces of invalidation information such that the total amount of the emission is equal to or greater than the minimum amount and equal to or less than the offsettable amount, and identifies, for each piece of invalidation information selected, the emission credit specifying information corresponding to the invalidation information; the invalidation processing unit performs processing related to the invalidation of the emission amount of the selected invalidation information by using the emission credit specified by the emission credit specification information; An information processing system comprising: [Item 6] Item 5. An information processing system according to item 5, the invalidation processing unit performs processing related to the invalidation so that the activity specification information and the emission amount included in each of the invalidation information are included in an invalidation notice; An information processing system comprising: [Item 7] storing, in an emission rights storage unit, emission rights specification information that specifies emission rights that can offset greenhouse gas emissions, an offsettable amount that is the amount of the greenhouse gas that can be offset by the emission rights, and attributes of the emission rights in association with each other; storing the attribute of the emission credit capable of offsetting the emission amount related to the activity in an offset attribute storage unit in association with activity identification information that identifies the activity; receiving input of the activity specification information that specifies the activity for which a user wishes to offset and the emission amount related to the activity; a step of referring to the offset attribute storage unit and the emission credit storage unit to identify the attribute corresponding to the input activity identification information, and acquiring the emission credit identification information corresponding to the identified attribute and the offsettable amount equal to or greater than the input emission amount; An information processing method characterized by being executed by a computer. [Item 8] storing, in an emission rights storage unit, emission rights specification information that specifies emission rights that can offset greenhouse gas emissions, an offsettable amount that is the amount of the greenhouse gas that can be offset by the emission rights, and attributes of the emission rights in association with each other; storing the attribute of the emission credit capable of offsetting the emission amount related to the activity in an offset attribute storage unit in association with activity identification information that identifies the activity; receiving input of the activity specification information that specifies the activity for which a user wishes to offset and the emission amount related to the activity; a step of referring to the offset attribute storage unit and the emission credit storage unit to identify the attribute corresponding to the input activity identification information, and acquiring the emission credit identification information corresponding to the identified attribute and the offsettable amount equal to or greater than the input emission amount; A program for causing a computer to execute the following.

[0011] <System Overview> An information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The information processing system according to this embodiment is intended to support trading of greenhouse gas emission rights (J-credits are assumed in this embodiment, but emission rights other than J-credits can also be applied). Emission rights created by greenhouse gas emission reduction or absorption are matched with the amount of greenhouse gas emissions to be offset. The number of J-credits available varies depending on the greenhouse gas emission activity. In addition, the number of J-credits available for reporting varies depending on the rules such as the Global Warming Act, the Energy Conservation Act, SBT, CDP, and RE100. The information processing system according to this embodiment provides available emission rights to users (hereinafter referred to as users) who wish to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

[0012] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information processing system. The information processing system of this embodiment is configured to include a management server 2. The management server 2 is communicatively connected to each of an owner terminal 1, a user terminal 3, and an invalidation server 4 via a communication network. The communication network is, for example, the Internet, and is constructed by a public telephone line network, a mobile phone line network, a wireless communication path, Ethernet (registered trademark), or the like.

[0013] The holder terminal 1 is a computer operated by a user who has created an emission credit by reducing or absorbing greenhouse gas emissions (hereinafter, referred to as an emission credit holder). The holder terminal 1 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal computer.

[0014] The user terminal 3 is a computer operated by a user. The user terminal 3 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal computer.

[0015] The management server 2 is a computer that manages information related to emission rights and proposes emission rights to users. The management server 2 may be a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personal computer, or may be logically realized by cloud computing.

[0016] The invalidation server 4 is a computer of an organization that issues emission credits and invalidates greenhouse gas emissions based on the emission credits (the organization that operates the J-Credit Scheme). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the invalidation process is performed by sending a request to invalidate the emission credits to the invalidation server 4 (including, for example, sending a request for invalidation by email).

[0017] <Management Server> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the management server 2. Note that the illustrated configuration is an example, and other configurations may be used. The management server 2 includes a CPU 201, a memory 202, a storage device 203, a communication interface 204, an input device 205, and an output device 206. The storage device 203 is, for example, a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, or a flash memory that stores various data and programs. The communication interface 204 is an interface for connecting to the communication network 3, and is, for example, an adapter for connecting to Ethernet (registered trademark), a modem for connecting to a public telephone line network, a wireless communication device for wireless communication, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector or an RS232C connector for serial communication, etc. The input device 205 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a button, a microphone, etc. that input data. The output device 206 is, for example, a display, a printer, a speaker, etc. that output data. Each functional unit of the management server 2 described below is realized by the CPU 201 reading a program stored in the storage device 203 into the memory 202 and executing it, and each storage unit of the management server 2 is realized as part of the storage area provided by the memory 202 and the storage device 203.

[0018] The hardware configurations of the owner terminal 1, the user terminal 3, and the invalidation server 4 may be the same as that of the management server 2.

[0019] 3 is a diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the management server 2. The management server 2 includes an emission credit storage unit 231, an offset attribute storage unit 232, an invalidation information storage unit 233, an input unit 211, an emission credit acquisition unit 212, a request reception unit 213, and an invalidation processing unit 214.

[0020] <Storage section> The emission credit storage unit 231 stores information on emission credits that can offset greenhouse gas emissions (hereinafter, referred to as emission credit information). The emission credit information may include the name of the emission meter (emission credit name), the attributes of the emission credits, and the maximum value (maximum offsetable amount) and minimum value (minimum offset amount) of the amount of greenhouse gas that can be offset by the emission credits, in association with emission credit specification information (emission credit ID) that specifies the emission credits. The minimum offset amount is used to set the sales unit of the emission credits, and can be set arbitrarily by the holder of the emission credits, and may be set in units of, for example, 1 ton, 50 ton, 100 ton, etc. The attributes may include a methodology related to the emission credits (which specifies the scope of application, the calculation method and monitoring method of the emission reduction and absorption amount for each technology that contributes to emission reduction and absorption). The attributes may include the type of emission credits.

[0021] The offset attribute storage unit 232 stores attributes of emission credits that can offset emissions related to an activity, in association with activity specific information that identifies the activity. In this embodiment, the offset attribute storage unit 232 stores rule specific information that identifies rules related to reporting emissions, activity specific information, and attributes in association with each other. The rule specific information can be, for example, "Act on Global Warming Countermeasures," "Energy Conservation Act," "Carbon Offset," "CDP Questionnaire," "SBT," "RE100," etc. The activity specific information can be, for example, "fuel combustion," "electricity use," etc.

[0022] The invalidation information storage unit 233 stores information about the emission amount that the user wishes to offset (hereinafter referred to as invalidation information). The invalidation information can include an invalidation ID that identifies the invalidation information, rule specification information, activity specification information, and the emission amount that the user wishes to offset. The invalidation information can also include information indicating whether or not the management server 2 will automatically perform invalidation processing (automatic invalidation).

[0023] <Functional section> The input unit 211 can accept input of activity specification information that specifies the activity for which the user wishes to offset, and the emission amount related to the activity. In this embodiment, the input unit 211 accepts input of invalidation information. The input unit 211 can transmit screen information that displays an input form for the invalidation information to the user terminal 3, and can accept the invalidation information by receiving data of each item of the invalidation information from the user terminal 3. The input unit 211 can register the accepted invalidation information in the invalidation information storage unit 233.

[0024] The emission credit acquisition unit 212 identifies emission credits that can be presented for the invalidation information. The emission credit acquisition unit 212 can identify attributes corresponding to activity specifying information included in the invalidation information by referring to the offset attribute storage unit 232 and the emission credit storage unit 233, and acquire emission credit specifying information corresponding to the identified attributes and the maximum offsettable amount equal to or greater than the emission amount included in the invalidation information. Furthermore, when rule specifying information is set in the invalidation information, the emission credit acquisition unit 212 can identify attributes corresponding to the rule specifying information and activity specifying information included in the invalidation information from the offset attribute storage unit 232.

[0025] The emission credit acquisition unit 212 can present the identified emission credits to the user. The emission credit acquisition unit 212 can transmit the emission credit information to the user terminal 3, for example.

[0026] The emission rights acquisition unit 212 may search for invalidation information capable of presenting the emission rights for the emission rights information. For example, the emission rights acquisition unit 212 can select a combination (which may be one) of invalidation information such that the emission amount (when there is one invalidation information) or the total emission amount (when there are multiple invalidation information) included in the invalidation information is equal to or less than the maximum offsettable amount of the emission rights information for the emission rights information. The emission rights acquisition unit 212 can also select a combination (which may be one) of invalidation information such that the emission amount (when there is one invalidation information) or the total emission amount (when there are multiple invalidation information) included in the invalidation information is equal to or more than the minimum offsettable amount. For example, for one emission rights information, the emission rights acquisition unit 212 can select a combination such that the total emission amount included in the invalidation information is equal to or more than a predetermined value or is the maximum, from among invalidation information (or combinations) in which the emission amount (or the total amount) included in the invalidation information is equal to or less than the maximum offsettable amount of the emission rights information and equal to or more than the minimum offsettable amount.

[0027] The request receiving unit 213 can receive an invalidation request from the user terminal 3. The request can include information for identifying the invalidation information (for example, an invalidation ID) and information for identifying the emission credits (for example, an emission credit ID).

[0028] The invalidation processing unit 214 performs processing related to invalidating emission amounts using emission credits (hereinafter referred to as invalidation processing). As the invalidation processing, the invalidation processing unit 214 can, for example, transmit an invalidation request including information identifying the emission credits and invalidation information to the invalidation server 4. In this case, the operator of the management server 2 will perform the invalidation on behalf of the user. Note that the invalidation may also be performed by the user himself.

[0029] For invalidation information in which automatic invalidation is "false", the invalidation processing unit 214 can perform the invalidation process in response to a request for invalidation from the user terminal 3. For invalidation information in which automatic invalidation is "true", the invalidation processing unit 214 can perform the invalidation process without receiving a request from the user terminal 3. In this case, prior to the invalidation process, the invalidation processing unit 214 can perform a sale process of the emission rights from the holder to the user. Note that the sales process will not be described here as it uses the process used in a general trading system.

[0030] In addition, when performing invalidation processing on multiple pieces of invalidation information using one emission right, the invalidation processing unit 214 can perform processing related to the invalidation (e.g., sending an invalidation request to the invalidation server 4) so ​​that the activity specific information and emission amounts contained in each piece of invalidation information are included in the invalidation notice.

[0031] <Operation> FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the process for revocation information in which the automatic revocation is "false."

[0032] The management server 2 accepts input of invalidation information from the user terminal 3 and registers it in the invalidation information storage unit 233 (S301). The management server 2 acquires attributes corresponding to the rule specifying information and activity specifying information included in the invalidation information from the offset attribute storage unit 232 (S302), and searches the emission credit storage unit 231 for emission credit information that corresponds to the acquired attributes and in which the emission amount of the invalidation information is equal to or greater than the minimum offsettable amount and equal to or less than the maximum offsettable amount (S303). The management server 2 can transmit the searched emission credit information to the user terminal 3 and present the emission credits to the user (S304). Here, the management server 2 may perform a process of selling the emission credits to the user.

[0033] When the management server 2 receives the invalidation request from the user terminal 3 (S304), it performs invalidation processing using the emission credits related to the emission credit information, based on the emission credit information and invalidation information specified in the request (S305).

[0034] In this way, the management server 2 can present users with emission credits that can offset emissions. In addition, the management server 2 can invalidate emissions on behalf of users in response to their requests.

[0035] FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the process for invalidation information in which automatic invalidation is "true."

[0036] The management server 2 accepts input of revocation information from the user terminal 3 and registers the information in the revocation information storage unit 233 (S321).

[0037] The management server 2 acquires rules and activities corresponding to the attributes of the emission rights information from the offset attribute storage unit 232 (S322). The management server 2 reads out invalidation information corresponding to the acquired rules and activities from the invalidation information storage unit 233, and selects a combination of invalidation information from the read out invalidation information such that the total emission amount is equal to or greater than the minimum offsettable amount and equal to or less than the maximum offsettable amount (S323). Here, the management server 2 can select a combination such that the total emission amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. The management server 2 may also select a combination such that the total emission amount is maximized. The management server 2 can perform invalidation processing such that the activity specification information and emission amount included in each of the invalidation information included in the selected combination are included in the invalidation notice (S324).

[0038] In this way, the management server 2 can automatically execute invalidation processing for emission amounts that are received from users and for which offsetting is desired. Therefore, for example, invalidation information related to emission amounts less than the minimum offsettable amount can be invalidated together. Also, when offsetting emission amounts less than the maximum offsettable amount, invalidation can be performed together with other invalidation information.

[0039] Although the present embodiment has been described above, the above embodiment is intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified or improved without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and equivalents thereof are also included in the present invention.

[0040] For example, in this embodiment, one or more pieces of invalidation information are matched to one piece of emission rights information, but one or more pieces of invalidation information may be matched to multiple pieces of emission rights information. In this case, for example, when there is a remainder (fraction) in the emission amount of the invalidation information in units of the minimum offsettable amount, another emission rights information may be matched by the fraction. For example,

[0041] For example, in this embodiment, the management server 2 automatically performs the invalidation process (acts as a proxy for invalidation), but the management server 2 may simply present to the user the emission credits that can be used for invalidation. [Explanation of symbols]

[0042] 1. Owner's terminal 2 Management Server 3. User terminal 4. Invalidation Server

Claims

1. An emission allowance storage unit stores emission allowance information relating to emission allowances that can offset greenhouse gas emissions, including emission allowance identification information that identifies the emission allowance, the maximum offset amount which is the maximum amount of greenhouse gas that can be offset by the emission allowance, the minimum offset amount which is the unit of sale for the emission allowance, and the attributes of the emission allowance, in association with each other. A neutralization information storage unit stores multiple pieces of information relating to emissions that a user wishes to offset, including activity identification information that identifies an activity and neutralization information that includes emissions related to said activity. An emission right acquisition unit retrieves invalidation information from the invalidation information storage unit for specific emission right information stored in the emission right storage unit, and selects a combination of invalidation information such that the emission amount included in one invalidation information, or the total emission amount included in multiple invalidation information, is less than or equal to the maximum possible offset amount of the emission right information, and is greater than or equal to the minimum possible offset amount. An information processing system characterized by comprising the following features.

2. The steps include storing emission allowance information relating to emission allowances that can offset greenhouse gas emissions, such as emission allowance identification information that identifies the emission allowance, the maximum offset amount which is the maximum amount of greenhouse gas that can be offset by the emission allowance, the minimum offset amount which is the unit of sale for the emission allowance, and the attributes of the emission allowance, in an emission allowance storage unit, in association with each other. The steps include storing multiple pieces of offsetting information in an offsetting information storage unit, which are information about emissions that the user wishes to offset, including activity-specific information that identifies the activity and offsetting information that includes emissions related to the said activity, With respect to specific emission rights information stored in the emission rights storage unit, the steps include: searching the invalidation information storage unit for invalidation information that can present the emission rights; and selecting a combination of invalidation information such that the emission amount included in one invalidation information, or the total emission amount included in multiple invalidation information, is less than or equal to the maximum possible offset amount of the emission rights information, and greater than or equal to the minimum possible offset amount; An information processing method characterized by a computer executing the following.

3. The steps include storing emission allowance information relating to emission allowances that can offset greenhouse gas emissions, such as emission allowance identification information that identifies the emission allowance, the maximum offset amount which is the maximum amount of greenhouse gas that can be offset by the emission allowance, the minimum offset amount which is the unit of sale for the emission allowance, and the attributes of the emission allowance, in an emission allowance storage unit, in association with each other. The steps include storing multiple pieces of offsetting information in an offsetting information storage unit, which are information about emissions that the user wishes to offset, including activity-specific information that identifies the activity and offsetting information that includes emissions related to the said activity, With respect to specific emission rights information stored in the emission rights storage unit, the steps include: searching the invalidation information storage unit for invalidation information that can present the emission rights; and selecting a combination of invalidation information such that the emission amount included in one invalidation information, or the total emission amount included in multiple invalidation information, is less than or equal to the maximum possible offset amount of the emission rights information, and greater than or equal to the minimum possible offset amount; A program that causes a computer to execute something.

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