System and method for monitoring and attributing sustainability attributes associated with energy

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the field of sustainability and, in particular, to monitoring and / or attributing sustainability attributes associated with energy to improve the environmental impact of chemical products and / or production by increasing transparency among value chain participants. The disclosure relates to methods, apparatuses and systems for generating, monitoring, attributing and / or allocating sustainability attributes associated with at least one energy input for production of one or more chemical product(s).

Description

[0001] SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING AND ATTRIBUTING SUSTAINABILITY ATTRIBUTES ASSOCIATED WITH ENERGY

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to the field of sustainability and, in particular, to monitoring and / or attributing sustainability attributes associated with energy to improve the environmental impact of chemical products and / or production by increasing transparency among value chain participants. The disclosure relates to methods, apparatuses and systems for generating, monitoring, attributing and / or allocating sustainability attributes associated with at least one energy input used to produce or for production of one or more chemical product(s).

[0004] TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

[0005] In the chemical manufacturing value chain, the calculation, monitoring, attributing and / or allocation of sustainability attributes is of great interest. Transparency between the participants can aid the collective improvement of environmental attributes. The calculation, monitoring, attribution and / or allocating of sustainability attributes is hindered, however, by the lack of common data standards. The value chain is long, globalized, and includes many different types of stakeholders. There is a need to simplify data standards relating to the calculation, monitoring attribution and / or allocating of sustainability attributes in the chemical manufacturing value chain.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] In an aspect the disclosure relates to a method, e.g. a computer implemented method, for monitoring at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input used to produce or for production of one or more chemical product(s), e.g. wherein the one or more chemical product(s) are produced by a chemical production or chemical production network using the energy input, the method, e.g. performed by an operating system of the chemical production or chemical production network, comprising: providing energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; calculating a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data; assigning a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger; allocating the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account; providing an identifier associated with the chemical product produced by the chemical production or chemical production network using the energy input; and assigning the digital sustainability credit from the balancing account to the chemical product, wherein the digital sustainability credit is assigned to the identifier associated with the chemical product, wherein the chemical product identifier is a virtual identifier uniquely linked to the chemical product, providing the digital sustainability credit for monitoring the at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input used to produce or for production of one or more chemical product(s).

[0008] In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for monitoring at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input used to produce or for production of one or more chemical product(s), e.g. wherein the one or more chemical product(s) are produced by a chemical production or chemical production network using the energy input, the method, performed by an operating system of the chemical production or chemical production network, the apparatus comprising: an input interface configured to receive energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; at least one processor configured to (I) calculate a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data (ii) assign a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger, (ill) allocate the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account (iv) provide an identifier associated with the chemical product, (v) assign the digital sustainability credit from the balancing account to the chemical product, wherein the digital sustainability credit is assigned to the identifier associated with the chemical product, wherein the identifier associated with the chemical product includes a chemical product identifier relating to a chemical product specification wherein the chemical product identifier is associated with the physical entity of the chemical product, wherein the chemical product identifier is a virtual identifier uniquely linked to the chemical product and and output interface configured to provide the digital sustainability credit for monitoring the at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input used to produce or for production of one or more chemical product(s).

[0009] In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a method for attributing at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input to a chemical product, wherein the chemical product is produced by a chemical production network using the energy input, the method, performed by an operating system of the chemical production network, comprising: receiving energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; calculating a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data; assigning a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger; allocating the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account; producing the chemical product using the energy input; providing an identifier associated with the chemical product; and assigning the digital sustainability credit from the balancing account to the chemical product, wherein the digital sustainability credit is assigned to the identifier associated with the chemical product, wherein the chemical product identifier is a virtual identifier uniquely linked to the chemical product.

[0010] In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a method for attributing at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input to a chemical product, wherein the chemical product is produced by a chemical production network using the energy input, the method, performed by an operating system of the chemical production network, comprising: receiving energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; calculate a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data; assigning a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger; allocating the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account; producing the chemical product using the energy input; providing an identifier associated with the chemical product; and assigning the digital sustainability credit from the balancing account to the chemical product, wherein the digital sustainability credit is assigned to the identifier associated with the chemical product, wherein the identifier associated with the chemical product includes a chemical product identifier relating to a chemical product specification wherein the chemical product identifier is associated with the physical entity of the chemical product, wherein the chemical product identifier is a virtual identifier uniquely linked to the chemical product.

[0011] In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for attributing at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input to a chemical product, wherein the chemical product is produced by a chemical production network using the energy input, the method, performed by an operating system of the chemical production network, comprising: receiving energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; calculating a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data, wherein the digital sustainability credit comprises a cost attribute, wherein the cost attribute specifies a monetary value associated with the digital sustainability credit; assigning a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger; allocating the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account; producing the chemical product using the energy input; providing an identifier associated with the chemical product; categorizing the cost attribute of the digital sustainability credit as a utility cost; and assigning the digital sustainability credit from the balancing account to the chemical product, wherein the digital sustainability credit is assigned to the identifier associated with the chemical product, wherein the identifier associated with the chemical product includes a chemical product identifier relating to a chemical product specification wherein the chemical product identifier is associated with the physical entity of the chemical product, wherein the chemical product identifier is a virtual identifier uniquely linked to the chemical product.

[0012] In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for attributing at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input to a chemical product, wherein the chemical product is produced by a chemical production network using the energy input, the method, performed by an operating system of the chemical production network, comprising: receiving energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; calculating a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data; assigning a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger; and allocating the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account;

[0013] In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for attributing at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input to a chemical product, wherein the chemical product is produced by a chemical production network using the energy input, the method, performed by an operating system of the chemical production network, comprising: receiving energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; calculating a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data, wherein the cost attribute specifies a monetary value associated with the digital sustainability credit; assigning a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger; allocating the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account; producing the chemical product using the energy input; providing an identifier associated with the chemical product; and categorizing the cost attribute of the digital sustainability credit as a utility cost.

[0014] In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a system for attributing at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input to a chemical product, wherein the chemical product is produced by a chemical production network using the energy input, the system comprising: an input configured to receive energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; a processor configured to (i) calculate a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data (ii) assign a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger, (ill) allocate the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account (iv) providing an identifier associated with the chemical product, and (v) assign the digital sustainability credit from the balancing account to the chemical product, wherein the digital sustainability credit is assigned to the identifier associated with the chemical product, wherein the identifier associated with the chemical product includes a chemical product identifier relating to a chemical product specification wherein the chemical product identifier is associated with the physical entity of the chemical product, wherein the chemical product identifier is a virtual identifier uniquely linked to the chemical product.

[0015] In another aspect, the disclosure relates to a system for attributing at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input to a chemical product, wherein the chemical product is produced by a chemical production network using the energy input, the system comprising: an input configured to receive energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; a processor configured to (I) calculate a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data, wherein the digital sustainability credit comprises a cost attribute, wherein the cost attribute specifies a monetary value associated with the digital sustainability credit (ii) assign a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger, (ill) allocate the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account, (iv) producing the chemical product using the energy input, (v) categorizing the cost attribute of the digital sustainability credit as a utility cost, (vi) providing an identifier associated with the chemical product, and (vii) assign the digital sustainability credit from the balancing account to the chemical product, wherein the digital sustainability credit is assigned to the identifier associated with the chemical product, wherein the identifier associated with the chemical product includes a chemical product identifier relating to a chemical product specification wherein the chemical product identifier is associated with the physical entity of the chemical product, wherein the chemical product identifier is a virtual identifier uniquely linked to the chemical product.

[0016] In yet another aspect disclosed is a computer element, in particular a computer program product or a computer readable medium, with instructions, which when executed on one or more computing node(s) are configured to carry out the steps of any of the methods disclosed herein. In yet another aspect disclosed is a computer element, in particular a computer program product or a computer readable medium, with instructions, which when executed by a processor cause any of the apparatuses disclosed herein to perform any of the methods disclosed herein.

[0017] Disclosed is in yet another aspect the use of one or more chemical products(s) associated with allocating sustainability attributes to two or more chemical products produced in a chemical production process of a chemical production plant as provided by any of the methods disclosed herein and / or produced by a chemical production network as provided by any of the methods disclosed herein to produce at least one discrete product or at least one end product associated with the one or more sustainability attribute(s). The at least one discrete product or the at least one end product may be an intermediate or end product of a product supply chain. The at least one discrete product or the at least one end product may be based on one or more chemical products(s). The at least one discrete product or the at least one end product may be produced by discrete manufacturing. Disclosed is in yet another aspect a method for producing at least one discrete product or at least one end product associated with attributing at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input to a chemical product, wherein the chemical product is produced by a chemical production network using the energy input as provided by any of the methods disclosed herein and / or produced by a chemical production network as provided by any of the methods disclosed herein is provided and / or used to produce the at least one discrete product or at least one end product associated with the one or more sustainability attribute(s).

[0018] In yet another aspect the present disclosure relates to a computer element with instructions, which when executed on one or more computing node(s) is configured to carry out the steps of the method(s) of the present disclosure or configured to be carried out by the apparatus(es) of the present disclosure.

[0019] Any disclosure, embodiments and examples described herein relate to the methods, the systems, apparatuses, chemical products and computer elements lined out above and below. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples.

[0020] EMBODIMENTS

[0021] The public, regulators, and financial investors are increasingly concerned with the environmental impacts of chemical production processes. Major companies, in turn, have announced ambitious plans to track and manage the environmental impacts associated with the production of their products. Transparency between the participants can aid the collective improvement in showing compliance with applicable standards (which, in the case of sustainability- related standards can improve environmental impacts). Mass balance methods are typically directed to methods for tracking the quantity of certified material through a system, allowing for mixing of certified and non-certified material while maintaining the mass balance. These schemes can be used to track and monitor the equivalence of certified and non-certified materials and resources throughout a supply chain, maintaining a balance between the input and output quantities. Traditionally, these schemes are developed and applied to materials (e.g., feedstocks). Thus, there is a need for methods of tracking and allocating the sustainability attributes of renewable energy when renewable energy is combined with fossil-based energy in the production of chemical products.

[0022] The systems, methods, and apparatuses of the present disclosure may enable the allocation of the sustainability attributes of renewable energy to chemical products. When an energy input with a sustainability attribute(s) is provided to a chemical production network, the operating system of the chemical production network may generate digital sustainability credits corresponding to the sustainability attribute(s) of the renewable energy. The operating system may allocate the digital sustainability credits from (digital data representing) the renewable energy input to a virtual balancing account. The operating system may assign a material number to the digital sustainability credits allocated to the virtual balancing account. When producing a chemical product, the operating system may allocate the digital sustainability credits from the virtual balancing account to the chemical product. The use of virtual balancing accounts for digital sustainability credits associated with renewable energy enables a digital system to generate, track, and allocate the sustainability attribute(s) of the renewable energy in line with the manufacturing of the products in an interconnected chemical production network.

[0023] The systems, methods, and apparatuses of the present disclosure may enable the accurate tracking and accounting of the cost of Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs) that have been converted to digital sustainability credits and stored in a virtual balancing account. This may be necessary because the digital sustainability credits represent a material component that can be assigned to a chemical product to show that the chemical product was produced with renewable energy. The challenge lies in the fact that these digital sustainability credits need to be stored for a certain period of time, and during this time, they may need to be accounted for as materials. This requires a robust tracking and accounting system that can accurately record the cost of the EACs and the digital sustainability credits and assign them to the appropriate chemical products. Moreover, a reliable and secure system for tracking and accounting for digital sustainability credits can help encourage the use of renewable energy by providing a transparent and credible way to demonstrate that the chemical products were produced with renewable energy.

[0024] The systems, methods, and apparatuses of the present disclosure may enable a high level of automation in the generation, monitoring, and allocation of digital sustainability credits for products. For example, a digital system may be able to access data stores that include input material data, process data, and utility data (e.g., energy input data). The digital system may retrieve the applicable data to generate digital sustainability credits for an energy input to a chemical production process. The digital system may then automatically allocate the digital sustainability credits to a chemical product produced by the production process to increase the transparency of the environmental impacts of the energy input (and / or the production process). This can help stakeholders make more informed decisions about the allocation of resources, including process inputs, which can lead to more sustainable and efficient production processes.

[0025] The systems, methods, and apparatuses of the present disclosure provide an efficient way to track sustainability attributes in chemical processing and provide chemical products with positive environmental impact through the value chain. By using virtual balancing accounts with attribution rules for balancing sustainability attributes (and / or digital sustainability credits) associated with energy inputs, such attributes can be efficiently assigned to chemical products produced in chemical production networks. Specifically, for chemical networks that produce one or chemical product from one or more input material(s) using one or more energy inputs via interconnected, connected and nonconnected production chains, the use of the virtual balancing accounts with attribution rules allows for the reliable assignment of sustainability attributes in line with the physical setup of the chemical production network and to tailor the digital assets associated with the chemical product to the needs of customers. The virtual balancing accounts and the associated metadata structure further allows to decouple the complexity in material flow of chemical production networks while still allowing to tailor environmental impact to each chemical product. This way the environmental impact of the produced chemical product can be determined in line with the physical set up of the chemical production network and tailored to the needs of customers. Moreover, the sustainability attribute(s) of the chemical products produced by the chemical production network can be made transparent to customers further processing the chemical products. By providing chemical product identifiers associated with at least one sustainability attribute, the sustainability attributes and as such the digital asset attached to the chemical product can be adjusted to customer needs.

[0026] EMBODIMENTS

[0027] In the following, embodiments of the present disclosure will be outlined by way of examples. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to said embodiments and / or examples.

[0028] When a digital system manages the monitoring and attribution of sustainability attributes (from inputs to outputs) for a chain-of-custody method such as mass balancing there is a need to track and allocate the sustainability attributes of renewable energy across a production chain (e.g., in a large chemical production network). This is challenging because renewable energy (e.g., electricity from renewable energy sources) and fossil-based energy may be mixed, there may be a need to acquire and store certificates associated with renewable energy, there may be a need to track and accurately account for the value of the sustainability characteristics associated with the certificates, and there may be a need to allocate the sustainability characteristics to particular chemical products.

[0029] According to the disclosure, the above limitations may be addressed with a digital system that is configured to receive energy input data associated with an energy input used to convert material input(s) to a chemical product. The energy input data may include digital data representing at least a portion of an Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC). An operating system of a chemical production network may calculate digital sustainability credits based on the provided energy input data. The digital sustainability credits may represent the sustainability attributes of renewable energy that are specified in the EAC and provided to the operating system in machine-readable format via the energy input data. For example, the received energy input data may include information such as the quantity of energy, the source of energy, and any associated sustainability attributes. The operating system may interpret and process the energy input data, utilizing predefined algorithms or calculations to compute the digital sustainability credits. The specific algorithm(s) may depend on the sustainability attributes enumerated in the EAC. For example, if the EAC includes attributes like the quantity of renewable energy generated, the operating system may apply appropriate formulas to determine the corresponding sustainability credits. The calculations may involve converting energy units, applying conversion factors, and taking into account any specific rules or standards defined for the sustainability attributes. The operating system may perform these calculations for each relevant energy input, considering factors such as the type of energy source and its associated sustainability impact. Once the calculations are completed, the operating system generates the digital sustainability credits representing the sustainability attributes identified in the EAC.

[0030] Monitoring may relate to providing one or more digital sustainability credits that specify at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input used to produce or for production of one or more chemical product(s). Monitoring may relate to providing properties of the chemical product that relate to the production of one or more chemical products and / or the energy inputs used for production of one or more chemical products. Providing properties of the chemical product that relate to the production of one or more chemical products and / or the energy inputs used for production of one or more chemical products may allow for monitoring the chemical products based on the production of one or more chemical products and / or the energy inputs used for production of one or more chemical products.

[0031] An "energy input" may relate to the amount of energy required to convert input materials e.g.., feedstocks into a product, e.g., a chemical product, during a manufacturing process. It may include the energy needed for various operations such as heating, cooling, mixing, and chemical reactions that occur during the production of the desired chemical. The energy input can be in the form of electricity, heat, or any other energy source used in a manufacturing process e.g., a chemical manufacturing process. The energy input may be measured in terms of heat energy, which may be supplied to the system using various methods, such as combustion, electrical heating, or steam heating. The energy input may be used to initiate, sustain and / or moderate the chemical reactions needed to convert the material input(s) (e.g., feedstocks, raw materials, intermediates, etc.) into a chemical product. Energy input used for the production of one or more chemical products may relate to energy usage of the production and / or energy reduction(s) implemented by the production.

[0032] An Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC) may relate to a tradable and verifiable instrument that represents the environmental attributes associated with a unit of renewable energy generation. It provides proof that a specific amount of energy has been generated from renewable sources, such as solar, wind, hydro, or biomass, and can be used to support claims of using clean and sustainable energy. EACs may be issued and tracked by regulatory bodies, independent organizations, or utilities to facilitate the transparent accounting and trading of renewable energy attributes, allowing consumers and businesses to support and verify their use of renewable energy. Examples of EACs may include Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), Guarantee of Origin (GoO), International Renewable Energy Certificates (l-RECs), Tradable Instrument for Global Renewables (TIGRS), Green Electricity Certificates (GECs), Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs), and the like. An EAC may be a digital representation of a data structure that can be stored and transmitted as a digital file. An EAC can be represented as a digital file in a specific format, such as XML or JSON, that encapsulates the necessary information about the renewable energy attributes. This digital file can be created, read, and processed by software applications designed to handle EAC data.

[0033] Sustainability attribute(s) may relate to any property or characteristic related to an environmental impact. Such property may be a property or characteristic of an energy input, an input material(s) and / or a chemical product(s), and the like. The sustainability attribute may indicate an environmental performance related to and / or incorporated in an energy input(s), input material(s), input utility (or utilities), the chemical production network and / or chemical product(s). The sustainability attribute may be derived from properties of the energy input(s), input material(s), the chemical production network and / or the chemical product(s). The sustainability attribute may be associated with the environmental impact of one or more material (s) and / or input utilities at any stage during their lifecycle. The stages of the material or product lifecycle may include the stages of providing raw material, producing products, such as intermediate products or end products, using products, treating end-of-life products, recycling end-of-life products, disposing end-of-life products, reusing components from end-of-life products or any subset of stages. The sustainability attribute may be tracked through any activity of one or more entities participating at any stage of the lifecycle of one or more material(s) or product(s). Sustainability attributes associated with any activity of one or more entities participating at any stage of the lifecycle of one or more material(s) or product(s) may be accumulated or aggregated.

[0034] The sustainability attribute may include one or more characteristic(s) that are attributable to environmental or sustainability impact of the energy input(s), input material(s), chemical product(s), intermediate product(s) and / or end product(s). The sustainability attribute may include environmental, technical, recyclability or circularity characteristics(s) associated with the environmental impact of the input material(s), chemical product(s), intermediate product(s) and / or end product(s).

[0035] The sustainability attribute may be a digital asset associated with the input material, input utility (e.g., energy input), or chemical product. The sustainability attribute may digitally specify the environmental impact of the input material, input utility, or the chemical product. The sustainability attribute may relate to a carbon footprint. The sustainability attribute may relate to a renewable, a bio-based and / or a recycled content, e.g., of the input material and / or chemical product. The sustainability attribute may include a qualitative data point relating to the type of impact e.g., in view of the input material or the chemical product. The sustainability attribute may specify a type such as recycled, renewable and / or bio-based. The qualitative data point may be converted to a quantitative measure such as digital sustainability credits (e.g., balancing units). The sustainability attribute may include a quantitative data point relating to the type of impact e.g., in view of the input material or the chemical product recycled content, renewable content or bio-based content. The sustainability attribute may specify recycled, renewable and / or bio-based content. The term sustainable may relate to material that has renewable, bio-based and / or recycled content. For example, a sustainable input material may include recycled, renewable and / or bio-based content. Similarly, a sustainable chemical product may include recycled, renewable and / or bio-based content. The sustainability attribute may include further environmental characteristics of the input(s) or the chemical product(s).

[0036] Renewable energy may relate to energy that is derived from sources that are naturally replenished and / or can be sustained over time. These sources may include sunlight, wind, water, geothermal heat, biomass, and the like. Renewable energy sources are distinct from non-renewable sources, such as fossil fuels, which are finite and cannot be replenished once they are used up. Examples of renewable energy may include: solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, and biomass energy. Solar energy may relate to energy derived from the sun's radiation, commonly captured through photovoltaic (PV) panels or concentrated solar power (CSP) systems. Wind energy may include energy harnessed from the wind using wind turbines to generate electricity. Hydroelectric energy may involve capturing the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water, typically through the use of dams and turbines. Geothermal energy may relate to energy sourced from the Earth's internal heat, extracted using geothermal power plants or geothermal heat pumps. Biomass energy may be derived from organic matter, such as wood, crop residues, or dedicated energy crops, which can be used for heat, electricity, or biofuel production. The use of renewable energy in the production of chemical products can help reduce the environmental impact of the production process and promote sustainability.

[0037] According to the disclosure, the operating system may assign a material number to the digital sustainability credit. The material number may uniquely identify the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger. A "material number" may relate to a unique identifier that may be assigned to each distinct material or product within a system. It may serve as a key reference for all processes and transactions related to that specific material. The material number may have a central role in inventory management, procurement, production planning, and supply chain operations. It may help to track the movement of materials throughout the manufacturing network, enabling accurate stock control, traceability, and efficient handling of materials. The material number may serve as a central point of reference for all relevant information associated with the material, including specifications, characteristics, units of measure, pricing, and other relevant data. This information may be used to maintain accurate inventory levels, determine reorder points, calculate costs, and facilitate effective decision-making within, for example, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. By using a standardized material numbering system, a system may establish consistency and enable seamless integration across various modules and functions, allowing for efficient management of material resources. By assigning a material number to the digital sustainability credit, the operating system enables the sustainability credits to be handled like a physical material, for example, with regards to inventory valuation in actual costing.

[0038] Assigning a material number to the sustainability credits provides several technical benefits. First, it allows for easier tracking and management of the credits throughout the production network. By treating the credits like a physical material, the operating system can more easily integrate them into inventory management systems and track their movement through the network. Secondly, assigning a material number to the credits enables the operating system to more accurately calculate the value of the credits. Thirdly, assigning a material number to the credits may ensure that no credit is used twice or beyond its inventoried amount. This is important because the value of the credits can be a significant cost associated with the network. By treating the credits like a physical material, the operating system can more easily integrate them into financial systems and ensure that their value is accurately reflected in financial reports. In addition, assigning a material number to the credits can help to increase transparency and accountability in the production network. By tracking the movement of the credits through the network, stakeholders can more easily verify that the credits are being accurately calculated and accounted for. This can help to build trust among stakeholders and demonstrate the network's commitment to sustainability. A "material ledger” may relate to a module or component that tracks and manages the financial aspects of material movements within a large chemical manufacturing network. It may serve as a central repository of financial data related to materials, providing real-time visibility into inventory valuation, cost of goods sold (COGS), and other financial metrics. The material ledger may capture information such as purchase costs, production costs, overhead expenses, and any additional costs associated with material movements. The material ledger may be designed to integrate with other modules in an ERP system, such as procurement, inventory management, and production planning. It may enable accurate and timely recording of material transactions, to help ensure that financial data is up-to-date and reflects the true value of inventory. By capturing all cost elements related to material movements, the material ledger may allow for precise cost allocation and determination of product costs.

[0039] According to the disclosure, the operating system may allocate the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account. Allocating digital sustainability credits to a virtual balancing account may involve several steps that ensure the proper management and tracking of the credits. For example, the operating system may first receive the digital sustainability credits calculated for the energy input. The sustainability credits may include information such as the quantity of credits, the associated sustainability attributes, and metadata. The operating system may then allocate the credits to the virtual balancing account, based on predefined rules or criteria. The operating software system may update the virtual balancing account to reflect the new credit allocation, adjusting the credit balance and maintaining a record of the allocation details. Later, when a chemical product is being produced and associated with specific energy inputs, the operating system may retrieve the appropriate amount of digital sustainability credits from the virtual balancing account and assign them to the respective product. This assignment could be based on factors such as the quantity of energy input used and / or the sustainability attributes associated with the product. The operating system may track the assigned credits, ensuring that they are properly utilized and accounted for in reporting. This may involve deducting the assigned credits from the virtual balancing account and updating the credit balance accordingly. The operating system may also generate reports or provide access to the allocated credits for transparency and auditing purposes. Overall, the allocation of digital sustainability credits to a virtual balancing account may involve receiving, updating, and tracking the credits, ensuring efficient management and utilization within the chemical production network.

[0040] The virtual balancing account or digital inventory may relate to a digital storage structure that stores data related to sustainability attributes. The account may be associated with metadata identifying the account for balancing sustainability attributes. The account may be associated with metadata identifying the sustainability attributes and the environmental or digital sustainability credits (e.g., balancing units) allocated to the account. The account may be associated with metadata identifying the production chain the account is associated with. The account may be associated with metadata identifying the input (material and or utility) or chemical product the account is associated with. The account may be part of a balancing system including multiple accounts. The account may hold digital sustainability credits for transaction. Sustainability attributes (or the digital sustainability credits representing the sustainability attributes) may be allocated, added, deleted, withdrawn, or deducted from the account. The virtual balancing account may be associated with sustainability attribute types such as recycled or renewable. The virtual balancing account may by associated with input energy types such as solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, biomass or combinations thereof. The virtual balancing account may be associated with an allocation scheme such as segregated allocation, non-segregated allocation like book and claim, mass balance with free attribution, mass balance without free attribution or combinations thereof.

[0041] The at least one attribution rule may specify the attribution scheme associated with the account for balancing sustainability attributes. The at least one attribution rule may specify the attribution of sustainability attributes associated with energy input(s) (and / or input materials or other utilities) and the chemical production network to sustainability attributes associated with chemical products. The at least one attribution rule may depend on a chemical product identifier and a sustainability attribute. The at least one attribution rule may include instructions for attributing sustainability attributes from input materials to at least one account for balancing sustainability attributes. The at least one attribution rule may include instructions for deducting sustainability attributes from at least one account for balancing sustainability attributes. The at least one attribution rule may include instructions for attributing sustainability attributes from the account to chemical products or chemical product identifiers.

[0042] According to the disclosure, the cost associated with the EAC are considered, together with other energy costs (e.g., together with other electricity costs) as part of the manufacturing costs of a chemical product, not as raw material (or input material) costs. According to the disclosure, this can be achieved using different approaches in an ERP system. For example, by including this split in the cost attributes of the digital sustainability credit(s), by using distinct accounts or material origin groups, or by periodic adjustment of the actual cost components. Regardless of how this is achieved, the operating system may be configured to report the cost(s) of the credit(s) (or the cost of the applicable EAC(s)) as part of the manufacturing cost and not under material cost.

[0043] The operating system may be configured to access data related the inputs material(s), the input utilities (e.g., energy input and / or water input), the process(es) and / or the chemical product(s) produced by the chemical production network. The operating system may be configured to convert an energy input(s) used in the chemical production network to digital sustainability credits. The operating system may be configured to allocate the digital sustainability credits to at least one virtual balancing account associated with the energy input. The operating system may be configured to allocate at least a part of the digital sustainability credits from the at least one balancing account to the at least one chemical product.

[0044] The operating system may be configured to manage digital sustainability credits related to the input (utilities and / or materials) and chemical products produced by the chemical production network. In particular, the operating system may be configured to determine digital sustainability credits associated with the use of energy input(s) impacting the environmental property / attribute of the chemical products produced by the chemical production network. The operating system may be configured to determine digital sustainability credits associated with the chemical product(s) and the environmental property of the chemical product(s). This way the operating system may be configured to allocate digital sustainability credits to virtual balancing accounts or to deallocate digital sustainability credits from the balancing accounts. The digital sustainability credits may be viewed as a credit that may be deposited in an account (e.g., a digital inventory) or deducted from an account related to the input and chemical products of the chemical production network.

[0045] The operating system may be configured to register inbound sustainability attributes, to convert the inbound sustainability attributes to digital sustainability credits (and back as needed), and / or to assign outbound sustainability attributes and to manage inbound allocation as well as outbound assignment.

[0046] For allocation the one or more sustainability attribute(s) may be converted to digital sustainability credits and the digital sustainability credits may be allocated to the virtual balancing account. The one or more digital sustainability credits may be allocated to the at least one virtual balancing account associated with the respective sustainability attribute. The conversion may be based on a conversion factor such as amount of energy produced (e.g., measured in kilowatt-hours), carbon intensity (i.e., amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with the generation or production of a unit of renewable energy), or any other suitable measure for quantifying the environmental impact of the sustainability attribute. By using digital sustainability credits and conversion it can be ensured that sustainability attributes of input materials are only used once for assignment to chemical products. This way double counting on input or output is avoided and the positive environmental impact can be reliable assigned to chemical products.

[0047] A "production site" may relate to a physical location where products are manufactured and produced (chemical products). A production site may include various facilities and equipment, such as reactors, distillation columns, storage tanks, and utilities like power, water, and steam. The production site may be designed to ensure efficient and safe manufacturing of chemical products and may include various processes such as raw material handling, chemical synthesis, purification, and finishing

[0048] Fossil footprint or Product Fossil Footprint (PFF) may relate to the amount of petrochemical feedstocks (e.g., naphtha, crude oil, coal, and natural gas, or intermediates from feedstocks that, in turn, require a certain amount of naphtha, crude oil, coal, and natural gas) consumed in a production process at a manufacturing facility. PFF may be expressed as kilogram methane per kilogram (or methane equivalent).

[0049] The term carbon emission value may relate to a quantitative measure of the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, typically expressed in units of carbon dioxide equivalents (C02e), that are associated with a specific product. Examples of a carbon emission value include carbon footprint or Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) which relate to a quantitative measure of the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted or removed in a production process at a manufacturing facility, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent. The PCF can be assessed from cradle- to-gate (partial PCF) or from cradle-to-grave (total PCF). The PCF can include emissions from all stages of the product's life cycle, including raw material extraction, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal. It may be used to assess and reduce the environmental impact of a company's products and to communicate this information to consumers. The term greenhouse gases (GHG) may relate to a gas that is capable of absorbing and re-emitting infrared radiation, thereby trapping and holding heat in the atmosphere, and contributing to the greenhouse effect. The most common greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and fluorinated gases.

[0050] Carbon emission values such as PCF values may be represented in a structured data format, such as XML or JSON, which allows for easy exchange of PCF information between different digital systems. The digital representation of a PCF may also include metadata, such as the date of the PCF calculation, the standards or protocols used in the calculation, and any assumptions or uncertainties associated with the PCF calculation. This metadata may help to ensure transparency and accuracy in the PCF calculation and reporting process. These values can be stored as a numeric data type and can be associated with other relevant data points, such as the name of the product, the date of manufacture, and the supplier information. They can also be displayed in a user interface or dashboard as a graph, chart, or other visual representation to help users understand and compare the environmental impact of different products or processes. Additionally, the values can be integrated into digital tools and platforms to help individuals and organizations make more informed decisions around sustainability.

[0051] Mass balance may relate to a chain-of-custody approach to account for materials entering and leaving a system. In the chemical industry, renewable or recycled (collectively, "sustainable”) input material is mixed in a continuously operating production process and allocated to the end products after chemical transformations have taken place. The mass balance approach is designed to track the amount and the sustainable characteristics of sustainable input material and attribute it based on verifiable bookkeeping. A mass balance product may relate to a product that has been manufactured using a mass balance approach, which involves tracking the flow of sustainable materials entering and leaving a system and allocating them to the production of specific products. A conventional product may relate to a product to which sustainable characteristics have not been allocated under a mass balance scheme (e.g., under a mass balance certification system). A given product may have a mass balance version (with sustainable characteristics allocated to under a mass balance scheme) and a conventional version (without sustainable characteristics allocated to under a mass balance scheme).

[0052] Sustainability data may relate to data about the sustainability characteristics of a material (e.g., an input material). The sustainability data may include data such as: material numbers, PCF values, and the like. The sustainability data may be located in a data store. That data store may be a system, or database that provides the data or information to a digital system or application. It can be a file, a database, a web service, an application programming interface (API), or any other system or tool that provides data to a digital application. The data source may be queried, manipulated, and analyzed to extract insights and information. The data source can be internal or external to the system, and it can be accessed through various methods, including direct access, network access, and APIs.

[0053] Mass balance certification data may relate to data associated with the certifications under one or more mass balance certification schemes. The mass balance certification data may include certification product data and sustainable feedstock demand data. The certification product data may include: production site certification data, conventional product identifiers for conventional products that are enriched by sustainable material substitution, mass balance product identifiers, certification scheme data (e.g., ISCC Plus, REDcert, etc.), and the like. The sustainable feedstock demand data may include: the type of sustainable input material(s) that are used, amount(s) of sustainable input material(s) to be acquired (e.g., under a certification scheme), percentage of fossil input material that is being substituted, and the like. The mass balance certification data may be located in a data store. That data store may be a system, or database that provides the data or information to a digital system or application. It can be a file, a database, a web service, an application programming interface (API), or any other system or tool that provides data to a digital application. The data source may be queried, manipulated, and analyzed to extract insights and information. The data source can be internal or external to the system, and it can be accessed through various methods, including direct access, network access, and APIs.

[0054] More generally, mass balance certification data may include input material data (data on the origin, quantity, quality, and characteristics of all input materials used in the production process), production data (data on the quantity, quality, and characteristics of products produced in the production process), transaction data (data on transactions involving input materials, products, and byproducts, including purchases, sales, transfers, and waste disposal), certification data (data on the certification status of input materials, products, and byproducts, including information on the certification body, certification type, and certification number), and / or traceability data (data on the traceability of input materials, products, and byproducts throughout the production process, including information on the batch number, lot number, and date of production).

[0055] The term "biogenic carbon” may relate to carbon of renewable origin like agricultural, plant, animal, fungi, microorganisms, marine, or forestry materials living in a natural environment in equilibrium with the atmosphere. The term "fossil carbon” refers to carbon that is derived from non-renewable sources, such as fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.

[0056] A standard may relate to a set of guidelines, rules, or requirements that establish a common framework or a consistent way of doing things. It may be a formal document that provides specifications, procedures, or criteria for products, services, processes, or systems, with the aim of ensuring quality, safety, reliability, interoperability, or other desirable characteristics. Standards may be developed and maintained by standards setting organizations (SSOs), which can be national, regional, international bodies or industry consortia. Standards are typically based on consensus among stakeholders from industry, government, academia, and other sectors. Standards can be voluntary or mandatory, and can be adopted by governments, businesses, or other organizations as a basis for regulation, procurement, or quality management. Standards can cover a wide range of topics, such as information technology, manufacturing, environmental management, and sustainability. They can be developed for specific industries, products, or processes, or can be general in nature, applicable to a wide range of applications.

[0057] A sustainability standard may relate to a set of requirements, guidelines, and criteria that define sustainable practices for a specific industry or product. Sustainability standards may be developed by organizations such as REDcert, ISCC, and RSPO, which are responsible for setting the criteria and may also oversee the certification process. These organizations may work with stakeholders from industry, civil society, and other sectors to develop standards that promote sustainable practices. Sustainability standards typically cover a wide range of topics, such as land use, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, water management, mass balance, recycling, and circularity. They may document specific requirements and indicators for sustainable practices, and establish a certification process to verify compliance with these practices.

[0058] A certification system may relate to the set of standards and guidelines for verifying the use of a standard (e.g., mass allocation to allocate sustainable feedstocks to sustainable products). Examples of certification systems may include REDcert2 and ISCC+. A certification body may relate to the organization that conducts the actual certification process (e.g., applies the certification system to the candidate site, process and / or product). The certification body may be an independent third party who is accredited by a certification system (accreditation body) to perform audits, inspections and issue certificates according to the standards set in the scheme. A Certification Body may relate to the organization that conducts the actual certification process (e.g., applies the Certification System to the candidate product

[0059] A certification body may be an independent organization that is responsible for verifying compliance with sustainability standards. Certification bodies may be authorized by an SSO to conduct audits and inspections of companies that seek certification under a standard. They may be accredited by third-party accreditation bodies to ensure that they meet certain criteria for impartiality, competence, and reliability. Certification bodies work with companies to assess their compliance with standards (e.g., sustainability standards) which can include requirements related to environmental performance. Certification bodies may evaluate companies' management systems, processes, and performance indicators to determine whether they meet the requirements of a standard. If a company meets the requirements of a standard, the certification body may issue a certificate that indicates the company (or a site(s), process(es), product(s) of the company) comply with the requirements of a standard (or standards). Partial compliance may relate to meeting at least some of the requirements of a standard. The certification body may also be responsible for ensuring the ongoing compliance of the certified company through regular audits and inspections.

[0060] Digital systems may use authentication and / or authorization technologies to control access to resources and to verify the identity of users. Authentication may relate to the process of verifying the identity of a user or a system. It may involve presenting credentials, such as a username and password, a digital certificate, or a biometric sample, and comparing them with records or standards to determine whether the user or system is authorized to access a particular resource or perform a specific action. Authorization may relate to the process of granting or denying access to a resource or a system based on the authenticated identity and the level of permission assigned to that identity. It may involve defining roles, rules, or policies that specify what actions or resources a user or system is allowed to access, and what actions or resources are restricted or prohibited. Public and private keys may be used in digital systems to provide secure access to resources and to verify the identity of users. Public and private keys are part of a cryptographic system known as public-key cryptography. In this system, each user has a pair of keys - a public key and a private key - that are mathematically related but cannot be derived from one another. The public key may be used to encrypt data and may be available to others who may want to send encrypted data to the user. The private key may be kept secret and may be used to decrypt data that has been encrypted with the public key.

[0061] There may be various types of audits including: on-site audits, remote audits, paper audits and / or virtual audits. An on-site audit may relate to a third party (or customer) comes to the manufacturing site to perform an audit. A remote audit may be conducted remotely by the third party (or customer) using digital platforms for meetings and to gather data and other information. A paper audit may involve (1) an auditor providing a questionnaire to the manufacturer and (2) the manufacturing completing and returning the questionnaire to the auditor. A virtual audit may relate to the use of digital platforms to enable an auditor to conduct the audit remotely. A virtual audit may use virtual reality and remotely accessible data stores to significantly reduce (or even eliminate) the need for interaction between the auditor and the plant personnel.

[0062] A certificate may relate to a credential issued by the certification body to indicate that the company (or a site, location, plant, product, legal entity, etc. of the company) or product has met the requirements of the certification system. The certificate serves as evidence that the company or product has been audited by an independent third- party certification body and has been found to comply with the relevant standards and requirements. The certificate typically includes information such as the name and address of the certified company, the scope of the certification (e.g., which products or processes are covered), the name of the certification body, the date of issue, and the date of expiration. The certificate is usually valid for a specific period of time and may require ongoing audits or surveillance to maintain certification. The certificate can be an important marketing tool for the certified company, as it demonstrates a commitment to quality and compliance with industry standards.

[0063] A digital identifier is a unique code or set of characters that is assigned to a specific entity, such as a person, organization, or resource, to distinguish it from others. Digital identifiers may serve as labels or handles that enable digital systems to recognize and track entities across different contexts and applications. They can be used to retrieve or link to digital resources, such as data, documents, images, videos, or web pages, and to manage access or permissions to these resources. Digital identifiers can take various forms, such as email addresses, usernames, domain names, IP addresses, or digital certificates. They can be assigned by different organizations or authorities, such as domain registrars, social media platforms, or government agencies, and can be used for different purposes, such as authentication, authorization, or identification. The use of digital identifiers may enable efficient and secure communication and data exchange among different entities.

[0064] Digital proof may relate to a cryptographic mechanism that provides verifiable evidence of the authenticity of a digital credential without revealing the underlying data. Digital proofs may be generated by combining the digital credential with a cryptographic proof, such as a digital signature or a zero-knowledge proof, to create a tamper-evident, cryptographically secure record that can be shared with others. The digital proof may include metadata about the credential, such as the issuer, the credential holder, the date of issuance, and other relevant information, as well as a cryptographic signature that verifies the integrity of the data.

[0065] A network node may relate to a device or computer that is connected to a network and is capable of sending, receiving, or forwarding data. The network node be any type of device that is connected to the network, such as a server, a router, a switch, a mobile device, an loT device, or a personal computer. In the context of the digital credential scheme, each entity (e.g., Issuer, Holder, and Verifier) may have its own network node that may allow it to interact with a distributed ledger that stores the digital credentials. The network nodes may communicate with each other to ensure the integrity and security of the system, and to facilitate the exchange of digital credentials between the different entities.

[0066] According to the disclosure, a digital system may use sustainability data, process data, and / or utility data to generate, monitor, and allocate digital sustainability credits for products. The digital sustainability credits may be associated with a sustainability attribute of an energy input and / or an input material. For example, the digital sustainability credits may be associated with a renewable energy attribute of the input energy for a chemical process. Similarly, the digital sustainability credits may be associated with the sustainability attributes of an input material such as bio-naphtha.

[0067] Input material data may relates to digital information related to the composition, quality, and source of the input materials (e.g., raw materials or feedstocks) used in a chemical production process. This data may include information on the quantity, physical properties, and origin of the input materials. It may also include information on any impurities, contaminants, or other quality attributes. The input material data may be provided via one or more digital documents including, for example, a purchase order, a sales order, an invoice, a material safety data sheet, and the like. The vendor may provide some or all of the input material data via an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and / or other digital systems.

[0068] One category of input material data is sustainability data. Sustainability data may be digital information associated with the input material(s) or chemical product(s). The sustainability data may digitally specify the environmental impact of the input material or the chemical product and / or may indicate one or more sustainability attributes of the input material. The sustainability data may relate to fossil footprint or carbon footprint. The sustainability data may relate to a renewable, a bio-based and / or a recycled content, e.g., of the input material and / or chemical product. The sustainability data may include a qualitative data point relating to the type of impact e.g., in view of the input material or the chemical product. The sustainability data may specify a type such as recycled, renewable and / or bio-based. The qualitative data point may be converted to a quantitative measure such as environmental units or balancing units (or digital sustainability credits). The sustainability data may include a quantitate data point relating to the type of impact e.g., in view of the input material or the chemical product, recycled content, renewable content or bio-based content. The sustainability data may specify recycled, renewable and / or bio-based content. The sustainability data may include further environmental characteristics of the input or chemical product. The sustainability data may be sourced from the input material vendor, a chemical product manufacturer, a sustainability data and consulting provider, and the like. A sustainability data and consulting provider may relate to a company that may offer a range of services related to sustainability. These companies help businesses and organizations manage their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and improve their sustainability performance.

[0069] Process data (or recipe or bill of material) may relate to a digital record that describes the process by which one or more input materials are converted into one or more chemical products. The process data typically includes detailed information on the steps and conditions of the chemical reaction, such as the temperature, pressure, and duration of each step, as well as any catalysts, reagents, or other materials used in the process. The process data can comprise information about which by-products are obtained in which amount for one or more process step(s). Process data may be stored and managed in digital systems, such as process control systems or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. They may be used by operators, engineers, and other personnel involved in the production process to ensure that the process is carried out consistently and efficiently, and that the resulting products meet the required specifications and quality standards.

[0070] Energy input data may relate to energy data or digital information related to the amount, cost, composition, quality, and / or source of the energy (e.g., electricity) used in a chemical production process. This data may include details about the quantity and type of energy inputs such as electricity. The energy input data may be provided via one or more digital documents including, for example, an EAC, a purchase order, a sales order, an invoice, a material safety data sheet, and the like. The registry or vendor (and / or a third party) may provide some or all of the input material data via an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and / or other digital systems. It may also include information on any impurities, contaminants, or other quality attributes.

[0071] One category of energy input data is sustainability data. Sustainability data may be digital information associated with the energy that is provided. The sustainability data may digitally specify the environmental impact of the utility or the chemical product and / or may indicate one or more sustainability attributes of the provided energy. The sustainability data may relate to amount of renewable energy, fossil footprint and / or carbon footprint. The sustainability data may relate to a renewable content, e.g., of the energy. The sustainability data may include a qualitative data point relating to the type of impact e.g., in view of the energy. The sustainability data may specify a type such as solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, ocean, biofuels, and the like. The qualitative data point may be converted to a quantitative measure such as digital sustainability credits, environmental units or balancing units (or credits). The sustainability data may specify renewable attributes of the energy. The sustainability data may include further environmental characteristics of the energy. The sustainability data may be sourced from the energy vendor, an EAC registry, a consulting provider, and the like.

[0072] A utility may relate to a resource or service that is necessary for the operation of a plant and the execution of its processes. Utilities may include essential inputs such as energy, water, steam, compressed air, cooling water, nitrogen, electricity, chemicals, solvents, and other resources that are required to facilitate various stages of chemical production, such as reaction, separation, purification, and transportation.

[0073] Environmental characteristic(s) may specify or quantify ecological criteria associated with the products environmental impact. Environmental characteristic(s) may be or may be produced or derived from measurements taken during the lifecycle of one or more product(s). Environmental characteristics may be determined at any stage of the product lifecycle and may characterize the environmental impact of the product for such stage or up to such stage. Environmental characteristic(s) may for example include impact categories such as fossil footprint, carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions or global warming potential, primary energy demand, cumulative energy demand, biotic and abiotic resource consumption, air emissions, stratospheric ozone depletion potential, ozone formation, terrestrial and / or marine acidification, water consumption, water depletion, water availability, water pollution, noise pollution, freshwater and / or marine eutrophication potential, human carcinogenic and / or non-carcinogenic toxicity, photochemical oxidant formation, particulate matter formation, terrestrial, freshwater and / or marine ecotoxicity, ionizing radiation, agricultural and / or urban land occupation, land transformation, land use, indirect land use, deforestation, biodiversity, mineral resource consumption, fossil resource consumption, and / or feedstock demand (e.g., sustainable feedstock demand and / or fossil feedstock demand).

[0074] Environmental characteri stic(s) may be calculated from combinations of one of more environmental characteristics. Environmental characteristic(s) may for example include product or material characteristics related to the production of the material or product like renewable, bio based, vegan, halal, kosher, palm oil-free, natural or the like.

[0075] In an embodiment, the digital sustainability credit comprises a cost attribute, wherein the cost attribute specifies a monetary value associated with the digital sustainability credit.

[0076] In an embodiment, the cost attribute of the digital sustainability credit as a utility cost.

[0077] In an embodiment, the digital sustainability credit further comprises a quantity of energy generated attribute, wherein the value of the quantity of energy generated attribute corresponds to the quantity of renewable energy generated to produce the energy attribute certificate.

[0078] In an embodiment, the digital sustainability credit further comprises an expiration attribute indicating when the digital sustainability credit expires.

[0079] In an embodiment, the material number is specific to a production site.

[0080] In an embodiment, producing the chemical product using the energy input comprises: producing the chemical product using the energy input at the production site. In an embodiment, the production site acquires the energy input and the digital sustainability credits.

[0081] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0082] In the following, the present disclosure is further described with reference to the enclosed figures. The same reference numbers in the drawings and this disclosure are intended to refer to the same or like elements, components, and / or parts.

[0083] FIG. 1a-c illustrate examples of chemical processes with multi input-multi output relations.

[0084] FIG. 2 illustrates a chemical production network including multiple chemical processes.

[0085] FIG. 3 illustrates a sub-cluster of a chemical production network including multiple chemical processes.

[0086] FIG. 4. illustrates multiple sub-clusters forming a chemical production network.

[0087] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a chemical production network producing chemical product(s) from input material(s) and energy input(s) in connection with an operating system including an attribute management system for sustainability attributes.

[0088] FIG. 6A illustrates a block diagram illustrating selected aspects of monitoring, attributing, allocating and / or managing sustainability attributes.

[0089] FIG. 6B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating selected portions of a material ledger.

[0090] FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram illustrating selected aspects of monitoring, attributing, and managing sustainability attributes associated with an energy input.

[0091] FIG. 8A illustrates selected aspects of a data model for an Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC).

[0092] FIG. 8B illustrates selected aspects of a data model for digital sustainability credit.

[0093] FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram illustrating selected aspects of a system for monitoring, managing, and attributing sustainability attributes associated with energy input(s).

[0094] FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram illustrating selected aspects of another system for monitoring, managing, and attributing sustainability attributes associated with energy input(s).

[0095] FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram illustrating selected aspects of another system for monitoring, managing, and attributing sustainability attributes for products.

[0096] DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present disclosure relates to the field of sustainability and, in particular, to monitoring and attributing sustainability attributes associated with energy to improve the environmental impact of chemical production networks by increasing transparency among value chain participants. The disclosure relates to methods, apparatuses and systems for generating, monitoring, and / or allocating sustainability attributes associated with an energy input used to produce a chemical product.

[0097] The disclosed system and process can be applied to a wide variety of products that are made from input materials and energy inputs, such as chemical products or precursor products. The term "product" may relate to any commodity that can be sold to others at any point in the value chain. This may include end products for end users (e.g., cars, paints, toys, or medicines). This may also include goods that are typically sold to other companies for further processing (e.g., steel parts for machinery, plastic pellets for extrusion, or chemical compounds such as acrylic acid to make superabsorbents for diapers). This may also include goods that are very early in the value chain such as crude oil fractions (e.g., naphtha), agricultural products (e.g., soybeans), or purified sand for glass production.

[0098] FIGs. 1a-c illustrate examples of chemical processes with multi input-multi output relations.

[0099] Chemical processes may include different process steps for producing one or more output material (s) from one or more input material(s). The chemical process may include at least one process step involving at least one chemical reaction. The chemical process may produce from multiple input materials multiple output materials. Chemical process steps include for example oxidation, reduction, hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, hydrolysis, hydration, dehydration, halogenation, nitrification, sulfonation, amination, alkylation, dealkylation, esterification, polymerization, polycondensation, catalysis, fermentation, mixing, separation, purification or the like. The process steps may be performed sequentially in time and / or space to chemically transform of input materials to output materials.

[0100] FIG. 1 A illustrates input materials 102 and 104 and energy input 105 fed to the chemical process 100. Energy input 105 may renewable energy, fossil energy, or a combination thereof. The input materials 102 and 104 are chemically processed to output materials 106 and 108. The output materials 106 and 108 may include one main product and at least one by-product. In chemical reactions, the yield of one output material is typically below 100 %, because of side reactions and losses upon purifications. Hence chemical processes may produce multiple output materials. The main product may signify the product of interest and the by-product may signify the further output product that is unavoidably obtained by the chemical process. The by-product may be an intermediate which can be used as reagent in another chemical process. The chemical process including the feed of input materials and the produced quantity of output materials may be monitored by sensors 110 providing production monitoring data.

[0101] FIG. 1B illustrates input materials 102, 103, 104 fed to the chemical process 100. The input materials 102, 103, 104 are chemically processed to output materials 106, 108 as described in the context of Fig. 1a. In addition to the output materials 106, 108 a waste stream 112 may be produced by the chemical process. The waste stream may include any output material that cannot be used as reagent in another chemical process.

[0102] FIG. 1C illustrates input materials 102, 104 fed to the chemical process 100. The input materials 102, 104 are chemically processed to output materials 106, 108 as described in the context of Figs. 1a and 1b. In addition to the output materials 106, 108 a refeed stream of input material 114 may be produced and reused by the chemical process.

[0103] FIG. 2 illustrates a chemical production network including multiple chemical processes.

[0104] FIG. 2 illustrates the networked nature of the chemical production network. Multiple chemical processes are interlinked via their input-output material relation. For example, the output materials 206, 208 of chemical process 204 may be the input material of chemical processes 214, 216. Chemical process 214 may produce from the input materials 210 and 206 the output materials 218, 222 and waste stream 220. Output material 218 may exit the chemical production network as end products. The input material 210 may be fed to the chemical process 214 from the outside of the chemical production network. The input material 206 may be fed to the chemical process 214 from the chemical process 204 of the chemical production network. Similarly chemical process 216 may produce from the input materials 208 and 212 the output materials 224-230. Output materials 228 and 230 may exit the chemical production network as end products. Chemical process 232 may produce from the input materials 222, 224, 226 the output materials 234, 236. Output materials 234, 236 may exit the chemical production network as end products. This way the chemical production network may use interlinked or interrelated chemical processes to produce output products leaving the chemical production network. The interlinking or interrelation may include at least one intermediate of one chemical process being used as input material to one or more chemical process(es) downstream the one chemical process.

[0105] FIG. 3 illustrates a sub-cluster of a chemical production network including multiple chemical processes.

[0106] A chemical production network may include multiple plants performing chemical processes 312, 310, 318 and forming sub-clusters 300 of the chemical production network. The input material 302, 304 may be fed into chemical process 310. The input materials 306, 308 may be fed into chemical process 312. The output materials 320, 324 may be provided as end products of the subcluster 300 and exit the subcluster 300. The output materials 314 and 316 of chemical processes 310, 312 may be provided as input materials to chemical process 318. The output materials 322, 324 may be provided as end products of the subcluster 300 and exit the subcluster 300.

[0107] FIG. 4 illustrates multiple sub-clusters forming a chemical production network.

[0108] The chemical production network 400 may include multiple subclusters 410, 412, 422. The input materials 402, 404, 406, 408 may be fed to subclusters 410, 412. The output material 416 from subcluster 416 and the output material 418 from subcluster 412 may be fed as input material to subcluster 422. In addition, input material 414 may enter the chemical production network 400 and be fed to subcluster 422. The output materials 424, 426, 428 may exit the chemical production network as end products.

[0109] As illustrated in FIGs. 1 to 4 the chemical production network 400 may include multiple chemical processes 100, which may be arranged in subclusters 410, 412, 422. The chemical processes 100 or subclusters 410, 412, 422 may be connected to form a network with multiple production chains interrelated via their material flow. The chemical production network may form part of a discrete product supply chain, wherein the discrete product is produced from one or more chemical outputs or output materials proved by the chemical production network.

[0110] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a chemical production network 500 producing two or more chemical product(s) from one or more input material(s) and one or more energy inputs in connection with an operating system 501 including an attribute management system 540 to manage the sustainability attributes (and associated digital credits) of energy inputs and / or input materials. Chemical production network 500 is described above with reference to FIGs. 1-4.

[0111] Operating system 501 is a digital operating system configured to collect, store, manage and interpret a wide range of production and / or business data for chemical production network 500. Operating system 501 may be part of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Alternatively, operating system 501 may be partly implemented in an ERP system and partly implemented in one or more additional systems which may be communicatively coupled with an ERP system. Operating system 501 may also be implemented in one or more systems outside of an ERP system.

[0112] In the illustrated embodiment, Input materials 502-504 and energy inputs 506-508 are provided to chemical production network 500 at the feed-in point 512. In alternative embodiments, input materials 502-504 and / or energy inputs 506-508 may be provided to a process at a location other than feed in point 512. The input materials may include conventional fossil feedstock 502 (e.g., naphtha) as well as sustainable input material 504. The energy inputs may include energy from both fossil energy generation and renewable energy generation. In an embodiment, energy input 506 is an energy input with one or more sustainability attributes (or, simply, sustainable energy input). For example, energy input 506 may include energy sourced from solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric energy, biomass energy, geothermal energy, and the like. The sustainable input material 504 may include renewable input materials (such as biogas and / or bio-naphtha) and / or recycled input materials (e.g., pyrolysis oil). After they are delivered to chemical production network 500, the conventional input materials 502, the sustainable input material(s) 504, and energy inputs 506-508 may be used in one or more chemical production processes of chemical production network 500.

[0113] Input material data for sustainable input material 504 is provided to operating system 501 at 522. Similarly, energy input data (e.g., for energy input 506) is provided to operating system 501 at 524 (e.g., from a third-party that sells or provides EACs). Energy input data 524 may be a digital representation of (all or a part of) an Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC, for example from an EAC registry operator). Operating system 501 may receive input material data 522 and energy input data 524 through an interface to a local or a remote database or an ERP system, in particular its supply chain module, or any computing system or apparatus, such as a centralized or decentralized computing system or apparatus including processing and storage. The energy input data for each energy input may hence be gathered from an ERP system or any computing system or apparatus, such as a centralized or decentralized computing system or apparatus including processing and storage. In some cases, the energy input data of each energy input is gathered through an interface to more than one database. It therefore may be necessary to convert the information retrieved from different databases into a single format to allow further processing. In particular, the energy input data obtained from databases may be attributed to the energy input via the identification of an energy input in the database that has to be translated to the identification of the energy input of the energy input data used in the process according to the present disclosure. Similarly, the input material data obtained from databases may be attributed to the input material input via the identification of an input material in the database that has to be translated to the identification of the input material of the process data used in the process according to the present disclosure.

[0114] Operating system 501 may calculate a digital sustainability credit associated with energy input 506. The digital sustainability credit may be a digital representation of the sustainability attribute(s) of the energy 506 (or a portion thereof). The digital representation may encapsulate various factors such as an amount of renewable energy and / or a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. It may include specific details regarding the sources of renewable energy, such as solar or wind power, as well as the corresponding energy generation capacity. Additionally, the digital representation may encompass information related to energy efficiency measures implemented during the production process, such as the use of energy-saving equipment or technologies. The calculation of the digital sustainability credit may involve multiple steps including, for example: (1) extracting the applicable data from the energy input data (e.g, a unique identifier of the EAC, the amount of renewable energy specified, etc.), (2) validating the extracted data (e.g., verifying the digital signature of the EAC and confirming that is issued by a trusted EAC registry), (3) converting the data into a structured formatted (e.g., JSON or XML) for easier manipulation, and (4) credit calculation (e.g., as determined by the amount of renewable energy represented by the EAC).

[0115] In an embodiment, energy input 506 and / or sustainable input material 504 may be used in a chemical production process that produces one or more chemical products. For example, operating system 501 may parse process data for the chemical production process and determine that it will create a chemical product. Operating system 501 may then create a virtual balancing account associated with the chemical product, renewable energy input, and / or sustainable input material. For example, if energy input data 524 is an input to the process, then operating system 501 may create virtual balancing account 536. Operating system 501 may convert the input sustainability attribute(s) of energy input data 524 to digital sustainability credits (e.g., corresponding to the amount of energy in the energy input). For example, energy input data 524 may indicate 1 MWH of green electricity is purchased and operating system 501 may convert that data to 1 MWH of digital sustainability credit and allocate that credit to virtual balancing account 536. Alternatively, operating system 501 may apply a different allocation rule to convert energy input data 524 to digital sustainability credit (e.g., by amount of energy, energy source, type of renewable energy, expiration date, and / or other predefined allocation rule) to allocate the digital sustainability credits to virtual balancing account 536.

[0116] Similarly, if sustainable input material 504 is an input to the process, operating system 501 may convert the input sustainability attribute of sustainable input material 504 to digital sustainability credits (e.g., corresponding to the amount of mass in the sustainable input material) and apply a proportionality rule (e.g., by mass, oxidation number, economic value, and / or other predefined proportionality rule) to allocate the digital sustainability credits to virtual balancing accounts 534. The conversion may include a conversion factor that takes account of the chemical difference between fossil-based input materials, such as naphtha and methane, and non-fossil input materials, such as pyrolysis oil. The conversion factor may relate to the lower heating value of the pyrolysis oil in relation to the lower heating value of naphtha or methane. The conversion factor may include the ratio of the lower heating value of pyrolysis oil to naphtha or methane. This way the chemical difference between the fossil and the renewable input material can be taken into account.

[0117] Virtual balancing account (or digital inventory) 534 may determine and track both the amount (e.g., volume and / or mass) and the value of the digital sustainability credits. For example, operating system 501 may parse input material data from 522 to determine the amount of sustainable input material(s) 504 that was received. Operating system 501 may then credit virtual balancing account (or digital inventory) 534 with digital sustainability credit calculated from the amount of sustainable input materials that were received.

[0118] Similarly, virtual balancing account (or digital inventory) 536 may determine and track both the amount (e.g., amount of energy) and the value of energy input data 524. For example, operating system 501 may parse energy input data 524 to determine the amount of sustainable energy input 506 that was received. Operating system 501 may then credit virtual balancing account (or digital inventory) 536 with digital sustainability credit calculated from the amount of sustainable input energy that was received.

[0119] Operating system 501 may also determine a value associated with the digital sustainability credits it adds (or deposits, credits, allocates, attributes) to virtual balancing accounts (or digital inventories) 534-536. For example, operating system 501 may determine a cost associated with energy input 506 (e.g., the cost of acquiring an EAC). Alternatively, operating system 501 may compute the difference in cost between a sustainable energy input and corresponding equivalent conventional energy inputs to determine the value of the digital sustainable credits (or balancing units). Operating system 501 may use average price, actual price, market price or other suitable values to determine the cost of the equivalent amount of fossil input materials or conventional energy inputs. Operating system 501 stores and tracks the amounts and values corresponding to renewable energy inputs or sustainable input materials in virtual balancing account (or digital inventories) 534-536. For example, the digital sustainability credits (or balancing units) stored in virtual balancing account (or digital inventory) 536 may include the amount and / or value information corresponding to renewable energy input 506. Operating system 501 includes amalgamating system 546 to create sustainable chemical products by combining digital sustainability credits (or balancing units) with conventional products. For example, operating system 501 processes an order for a product 552-564. If the customer purchased a conventional chemical product 552-558, operating system 501 may process the purchase using conventional product digital inventories 542-544.

[0120] If, however, the customer purchased a sustainable chemical product, operating system 501 may direct amalgamating system 546 to combine digital sustainability credits (or balancing units) from one or both of digital inventories (or virtual balancing accounts) 534-536 with corresponding conventional products from one or both of digital inventories 542-544. Amalgamating system 546 may generate a digital asset (which may or may not be incorporated into another record such as a BOM and / or sales record) 572-574 that defines (or specifies) a sustainable product from the combination of digital sustainability credits (or balancing units) and conventional product(s). For example, amalgamating system 546 may create a sustainable product by combining conventional product 544 with sustainability attributes from digital inventory 536 as shown by 574. Similarly, amalgamating system 546 may create a sustainable product by combining conventional product 542 with sustainability attributes from digital inventory 534 as shown by 572. Thus, operating system 501 enables chemical production network 500 to efficiently create multiple sustainable products from multiple input materials and energy inputs (including renewable energy inputs) that are combined with fossil input materials and / or conventional energy in a large interconnected chemical production network.

[0121] Operating system 501 may be configured to provide an identifier (e.g., a decentral identifier) associated with a physical entity of a produced chemical product (or other chemical product). For example, operating system 501, may be configured to link the decentral identifier to a physical identifier of the chemical product. Operating system 501 may be configured to assign the decentral identifier to the physical identifier connected to the chemical product. The production operating apparatus may be configured to assign the decentral identifier to the physical identifier physically connected to the chemical product.

[0122] The decentral identifier may relate to data associated with at least one chemical product produced by the chemical production network, wherein the one or more sustainability attribute(s) associated with the at least one chemical product are derived from one or more sustainability attribute(s) associated with the input material(s) and / or energy input(s). The one or more sustainability attribute(s) associated with the chemical product(s) may be associated with the one or more input material(s), one or more energy input(s) and / or the chemical process(s) used to produce the chemical product(s). The decentral identifier may relate to any identifier uniquely associated with the chemical product. The decentral identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the chemical product. The decentral identifier may relate to a single batch of the chemical product. The decentral identifier may be associated with a group of chemical product(s). The identifier may relate to multiple physical entities of the chemical product(s). The decentral identifier may be associated with continuous or semi-continuous stream of the chemical product. The identifier may relate to a stream of the chemical product e.g. over a certain time period. FIG. 6A illustrates a block diagram illustrating selected aspects of monitoring, attributing, allocating and / or managing sustainability attributes. Energy grid 602 may include a network of interconnected power generation sources, transmission lines, and distribution infrastructure that delivers a reliable and continuous supply of energy, such as electricity, to support the operations of chemical production network 500. Fossil energy generation 604 may include a facility that provides electricity based on non-renewable energy sources, such as coal, natural gas, or oil to energy grid 602. Renewable energy generation 606 may relate to a facility that provides electricity based on renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, hydro, or geothermal power to energy grid 602. Energy grid 602 may include electricity from both fossil energy generation 604 and renewable energy generation 606. After electricity is provided to grid 602 the electrons sourced from fossil energy generation 604 become indistinguishable from those sourced from renewable energy generation 606. Electrons themselves do not carry information about their origin, and once they are fed into grid 602, they mix and travel along the transmission lines without any intrinsic markers. Therefore, at the point of consumption, it is not possible to differentiate between the specific electrons that originated from renewable energy generation and those from fossil-based generation. The distinction between renewable and non- renewable energy sources may be made at the generation stage, where the mix of sources feeding the grid may be determined.

[0123] Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC) registry 608 may include a digital platform or database that facilitates the creation, tracking, and transfer of Energy Attribution Certificates (EACs). It serves as a centralized repository for the issuance, registration, and management of EACs and enables renewable energy generators (such as renewable energy generator 606) to document their energy production and attribute the environmental benefits associated with renewable energy sources to the energy (e.g., electricity) they produce. For example, renewable energy generator 606 may register the details of its energy production, such as the type and quantity of renewable energy generated, with registry 608. Registry 608 may then issue EAC 610, e.g., energy input data representing the EAC, to operating system 501 of chemical production network 500. Operating system 501 may assign a material number to EAC 610 and / or may generate digital sustainable credit 612 from EAC 610, which may inherit the material number. In some embodiments, operating system 501 may assign the material number on receiving EAC 610, during the calculation of digital sustainability credit 612, and / or after the calculation of digital sustainability credit 612.

[0124] Digital sustainability credit 612 may include metadata, fields, or attributes that provide descriptive information about the credit, see, for example, digital sustainability credit 840 shown in FIG. 8B. For example, credit 612 may include a cost attribute or value or field, as shown by cost attribute 856 shown in FIG. 8B. The cost attribute may represent a financial value associated with credit 612 e.g., associated with the cost of acquiring EAC 610 and / or associated with the cost of an amount of energy generated by renewable energy generation 606. The cost attribute may be associated with the cost of generating the renewable energy. This attribute may provide information about, or cost data related to the expenses incurred in producing renewable energy, including the costs of infrastructure, equipment, maintenance, and any other relevant factors. Operating system 501 may allocate or attribute digital sustainability credit 612 to chemical product 614 to create sustainable chemical product 618, e.g. as shown be 616. Allocating credits to products is further described with reference to FIGs. 5-10. The costs associated with renewable energy e.g., as reflected in the cost attribute may be considered, e.g. together with other energy costs, as part of the manufacturing cost of sustainable chemical product 618 rather than part of the input (or raw) material costs for the product. This can be achieved by classifying the cost attribute as a utility cost or utility cost attribute. The utility cost attribute may be different to the raw material cost attribute. The utility cost attribute may relate to the cost associated with energy input(s). For example, operating system 501 may classify the cost of the credit (as identified by its material number) as a utility cost by assigning the credit to a specific category or classification that represents a utility expense. This classification may then be associated with the credit in the operating system's database or material ledger, enabling operating system 501 to track and report on the usage and cost of the credit as a utility expense. The classification may be based on various factors, such as the allocation of the credit to a chemical product to produce a sustainable chemical product. Sustainable chemical product 618 may be provided to customer 620.

[0125] FIG. 6B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating selected portions of a material ledger. Material ledger 630 may relate to a data storage or data base storing material data in a pre-defined data structure. The data structure may relate to one or more identifier(s) such as material identifier or production site identifier, input materials and / or utilities such as energy used in a production process and / or related digital sustainability credits or attributes. Material ledger 630 may include a record-keeping system that tracks the usage of materials in a production process e.g., the production process shown in FIG. 6A. Material ledger 630 may provide a record for digital sustainability credit 612 e.g. as shown in FIG. 6A. Material ledger 630 may include material number or one or more material identifier(s) 632, production site identifier(s) 634, cost component split 636. Material identifier(s) 632 may include one or more unique identifier(s) assigned to credit 612 to identify it as a material used in a production process e.g., the production process shown at 616 in FIG. 6A. Material identifier(s), such as material identifier 632, allow to track and manage inventory and production data for chemical production network 500. One or more production site identifier(s) may relate to a specific code or label assigned to a manufacturing facility or site where production processes related to a material take place. It may serve as a unique identifier for the location where the material is processed, enabling efficient tracking and management of production activities, inventory, and logistics associated with that specific site. The production site identifier(s) allow to differentiate and manage materials across multiple production sites within an organization. For example, production site identifier 634 may indicate the production site at which material 123456789 is used e.g., to produce sustainable chemical product 618.

[0126] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating selected aspects of monitoring, attributing, allocating and / or managing sustainability attributes and / or digital sustainability credits.

[0127] Operating system 501 may receive energy input data at 702. The energy input data may be associated with energy inputs used for production of one or more chemical product(s). The energy input data may relate at least to the energy type, the quantity of energy generated and / or identifier(s) relating to energy generation. The energy input data may include digital data representing at least a portion of an Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC). The EAC may include multiple fields for data shown by FIG. 8A. Examples of the types of data fields that may be included in the energy input data include (i) renewable energy source (804), (ii) quantity generated (806), (iii) EAC identifier (808), (iv) date of issuance (810), (v) expiration date (812), (vi) sustainability data (814), (vii) cost attribute (816), (viii) validation verification information (818), (ix) geographical information (820), (x) energy attribute type (822), (xi) issuer information (824) and the like. Data elements 804-824 may be structured as key-value pairs, where the key represents the name of the attribute and the value represents the actual information. For example, a field for a material name could have a key of "material name" and a value of "123456789." Data elements 804-824 may be digitally signed using a cryptographic key to ensure their integrity and authenticity. In an embodiment, data elements 804-824 can be selectively disclosed to different parties depending on the needs and the requirements of such party.

[0128] Operating system 501 may calculate a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data at 704. The digital sustainability credit may be or include a digital representation of the sustainability attribute associated with the energy input used to produce or for production of one or more chemical products. The digital sustainability credit may be or include a digital representation of the sustainability attribute associated with the energy input in relation to energy usage of the production process and / or energy reduction(s) implemented by the production process. The digital sustainability credit may be associated with energy inputs used for production of one or more chemical product(s). The digital sustainability credit may relate at least to the energy type, the quantity of energy generated and / or identifier(s) relating to energy generation. The digital sustainability credit may be or include a digital representation of the sustainability attribute(s) e.g. of the renewable energy or a portion thereof used to produce one or more chemical products. The digital representation may encapsulate various factors such as an amount of renewable energy and / or a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. It may include specific details regarding the sources of renewable energy, such as solar or wind power, as well as the corresponding energy generation capacity. Additionally, the digital representation may encompass information related to energy efficiency measures implemented for the production process, such as the use of energy-saving equipment or technologies.

[0129] The digital sustainability credit may include multiple fields for data shown by FIG. 8B. Examples of the types of data fields that may be included in the digital sustainability credit include (i) material number (842) (ii) renewable energy source (844), (iii) quantity generated (846), (iv) EAC identifier (848), (v) date of issuance (850), (vi) expiration date (852), (vii) sustainability data (854), (viii) cost attribute (856), (ix) validation verification information (858), (x) geographical information (860), (xi) energy attribute type (862), (xii) issuer information (864) and the like. Data elements 842-864 may be structured as key-value pairs, where the key represents the name of the attribute and the value represents the actual information. For example, a field for a material name could have a key of "material name" and a value of "123456789." Data elements 842-864 may be digitally signed using a cryptographic key to ensure their integrity and authenticity. In an embodiment, data elements 842-864 can be selectively disclosed to different parties depending on the needs and the requirements of stakeholder. The calculation of the digital sustainability credit may involve multiple steps including, for example: (1) extracting the applicable data from the energy input data (e.g., a unique identifier of the EAC, the amount of renewable energy specified, etc.), (2) validating the extracted data (e.g., verifying the digital signature of the EAC and confirming that is issued by a trusted EAC registry), (3) converting the data into a structured formatted (e.g., JSON or XML) for easier manipulation, and (4) credit calculation (e.g., as determined by the amount of renewable energy represented by the EAC). Operating system 501 may assign a material number to the digital sustainability credit at 706. The material number may uniquely identify the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger or as stored by data storage or data base storing material data. For example, the operating system may generate a unique material number based on predefined rules and formats. The operating system may then associate the material number with the data structure representing the digital sustainability credit (e.g., as shown 842 in FIG. 8B). The material number may act as an identifier for easy reference and retrieval.

[0130] Referring to 708, the operating system may be configured to allocate the digital sustainability credits to a virtual balancing account associated with the energy input. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the allocation of the digital sustainability credits to a virtual balancing account. At least one energy input 840, such as renewable input, may be provided as an input to chemical production unit 804A. Input material data and process data may also be provided to the operating system e.g., operating system 501, shown in FIG. 5, in addition to providing energy input 840. The operating system may include a virtual balancing account assignment function 808 configured to generate and manage virtual balancing accounts 81 OB-814B. The operating system may provide or parses the energy input data and may determine that the energy input data includes sustainability data (e.g., sustainability data 814, shown in FIG. 8A). The operating system may instruct the virtual balancing account assignment function to generate (and / or assign) one or more virtual balancing accounts (e.g., 810B, 812B, and 814B). The operating system may be configured to convert the sustainability attributes of energy input 840 to digital sustainability credits (e.g., using a conversion factor or directly). In an embodiment, the operating system attributes the digital sustainability credits to a virtual balancing account, according to one or more attribution rules (e.g., energy type, energy source, registry, validity period, and the like). Referring to FIGs. 7 and 9, the operating system may allocate the digital sustainability credit to a virtual balancing account. The virtual balancing account may include at least one attribution rule for attributing the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to the virtual balancing account 708. For example, the operating system may allocate digital sustainable credit 828B to virtual balancing account 810B using attribution rule 830B.

[0131] Referring to 710 the chemical production network (e.g., chemical production network 500, shown in FIG. 5) may produce the chemical product. Referring to FIG. 7 and FIG. 10, energy input 840 may be provided to chemical production 804A which may produce products 816B, 818B, and 820B. Chemical processes and chemical production networks are described above with reference to FIGs. 1-5. Referring to 711, the operating system may categorize the cost attribute of the digital sustainability credit as a utility cost. The costs associated with energy input such as renewable energy (e.g., as reflected in the cost attribute) may be considered (together with other energy costs) as part of the manufacturing cost of sustainable chemical product rather than part of the input (or raw) material costs for the product. This can be achieved by digitally classifying the cost attribute as a utility cost. For example, operating system 501 may classify the cost of the credit (as identified by its material number) as a utility cost by assigning the credit to a specific category or classification that represents a utility expense. This classification may then be associated with the credit in the operating system's database or material ledger, enabling operating system 501 to track and report on the usage and cost of the credit as a utility expense. The classification may be based on various factors, such as the allocation of the credit to a chemical product to produce a sustainable chemical product. Sustainable chemical product 618 may be provided to customer 620.

[0132] According to the disclosure, the digital system (e.g., operating system 501, shown in FIG. 5) may provide an identifier or digital asset associated with a chemical product at 712. The identifier or digital asset associated with the chemical product may include one or more identifier(s) relating to the chemical product. The identifier(s) may relate to a chemical product class, a specific chemical product and / or properties of the chemical product such as environmental properties. The identifier may include one or more unique number(s) uniquely associated with the chemical product class, the specific chemical product and / or the properties of the chemical product. The identifier may include one or more specific identifier(s), such as chemical product class identifier, specific chemical product identifier and / or property of the chemical product identifier. Such specific identifier(s) may be uniquely linked to a first chemical product. For example, one or more property identifier(s) may be uniquely linked to the chemical product identifier. The chemical product identifier may be uniquely linked to the specific chemical product. This way the chemical product can be uniquely linked to a digital twin of the chemical product specifying specific properties of the chemical product.

[0133] The identifier associated with the chemical product may include one or more identifier(s) relating to one or more sustainability attribute(s). The identifier may include a sustainability attribute identifier, such as a unique sustainability attribute identifier, relating to sustainability attribute(s) assignable to chemical products. The sustainability attribute identifier may relate to the chemical product class or the specific chemical product. For example, the sustainability attribute identifier may relate to recycled content, bio-based content and / or renewable content as environmental attribute, each having their own unique each having their own unique material identifier. The specific sustainability attribute or a specific combination of sustainability attributes may be related to the unique sustainability attribute identifier.

[0134] The identifier (or digital asset) may include, be linked to or be related to a batch and / or order number, such as a unique batch and / or order number. The batch number may be linked to the physical entity of produced chemical product batches. The order number may be linked to the transaction specifying the shipment of the chemical product batch from the producer of the chemical product to the user further processing the chemical product.

[0135] For example, the digital system may produce a digital asset (e.g., identifiers 850B and 860B) that may specify a chemical product (e.g., via a chemical product identifier such as 852B and 862B) and one or more sustainability attributes (and / or digital sustainability credit such as 854B and 864B) assigned to the chemical product as shown by FIG 10. The chemical product identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the chemical product. The digital asset (e.g., identifiers 850B and 860B) may be uniquely linked to the physical product. Such linking may include a physical or virtual link of identifiers uniquely associated with the product. For physical linking a tag or code may be physically connected to the product, e.g., by printing a QR code on the packaging. For virtual linking different identifiers associated with the physical material may be linked. For example, an order number, a batch number, LOT number or a combination thereof may be linked

[0136] Referring again to FIGs. 7A and 10, the digital system (e.g., operating system 501, shown in FIG. 5) may assign a digital sustainability credit (e.g., 854B) from a first balancing account (e.g., 810B) to a chemical product (e.g., 816B), wherein the digital sustainability credit may be assigned to the identifier (e.g., identifier 850B) associated with the chemical product at 714. The identifier associated with the chemical product may include a chemical product identifier (852B) relating to a chemical product specification. The chemical product identifier is associated with the physical entity of the chemical product, wherein the chemical product identifier is a virtual identifier uniquely linked to the chemical product.

[0137] Assigning or attributing at least one sustainability attribute (e.g., digital sustainability credit 854B and 864B) associated with energy input(s) to chemical product(s) may include the linking of an input material identifier or a chemical product identifier with the sustainability attribute (or digital sustainability credit). The input material identifier or the chemical product identifier may be associated with the physical entity of the input material or the chemical product, respectively. This way the virtual identifier of a material may be uniquely linked to the physical material. Such linking may include a physical or virtual link of identifiers uniquely associated with the physical material. For physical linking a tag or code may be physically connected to the material, e.g. by printing a QR code on the packaging. For virtual linking different identifiers associated with the physical material may be linked. For example, an order number, a batch number, LOT number or a combination thereof may be linked.

[0138] Thus, according to the disclosure, a digital system may monitor, manage, and allocate digital sustainability credits from renewable energy inputs that are allocated to a chemical product. As described above with reference to FIGs. 7, 8A-8B, and 9-10, when an energy input with a sustainability attribute is provided to a process, the digital system may create a digital balancing account associated with the energy input. The input sustainability attributes may be allocated to the product by a predefined attribution scheme (e.g., renewable energy type) from the digital balancing account.

[0139] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating selected aspects of a system for generating and managing virtual balancing accounts in a chemical production network. System 900 includes network 910, production operating system 920, and data sources 930. Network 910 may be any combination of wired and wireless networks capable of interconnecting digital systems. Production operating system 920 may monitor and / or control a production network (e.g., the chemical product networks shown in FIGs. 2-4). Data sources 930 include input material data source 932, process data source 934, and energy input data source 936. A data source can be any type of system or technology that collects, stores, and / or provides access to data, such as a database, a file system, a web service, a sensor network, a camera, a satellite, an loT device, production equipment, and the like.

[0140] Applications or other systems within production operating system 920 may access data sources 932-936, for example, through a query interface or through a data transfer mechanism such as a file transfer protocol (FTP), a web API, and / or a message queue. Data sources 932-936 can be either internal or external to a production operating system 920, depending on the specific context and use case. For example, data sources 932-936 could be internal databases that are used by an application(s) to store and retrieve data associated with input materials, energy inputs, chemical production processes, and chemical composition data. Alternatively, one or more of 932-936 are external databases that are used by an application(s) to store and retrieve data associated with input materials, energy inputs, chemical production processes, and chemical composition data. Energy input data source 936 may be data associated with an EAC registry operator (e.g., EAC registry operator 608, shown in FIG. 6).

[0141] In an embodiment, virtual balancing account logic 924 retrieves data from data sources 932-936 to perform the methods described above with reference to FIGs. 5-10. When a process input (e.g., energy input and / or input material) with a sustainability attribute is provided to a process, the virtual balancing account logic 924 may create one or more digital balancing accounts associated with the applicable digital sustainability credit (and / or sustainability attribute). The input sustainability attributes may be allocated to products by a predefined attribution scheme (e.g., energy amount, energy type, by mass, by oxidation number, by economic value, or other predefined rules) using the digital balancing accounts. Users 912 and 916 may monitor and / or manage selected aspects of production operating system 920, including virtual balancing account logic 924 via input / output 914.

[0142] The present disclosure further relates to a non-transitory computer readable data medium storing a computer program including instructions for executing steps of the methods disclosed herein. Computer readable data medium include hard drives, for example on a serv-er, USB storage device, CD, DVD or Blue-ray discs. The computer program may contain all functionalities and data required for execution of the methods disclosed herein or it may provide interfaces to have parts of the method processed on remote systems, for ex-ample on a cloud system.

[0143] The present disclosure further relates to a system or apparatus for determining the sustainability attribute of a product produced in a production process of a production plant. Unless explicitly described differently hereafter, the description relating to the method also applies to the system or apparatus. The system or apparatus can be a computing device, for example a computer, tablet, or smartphone, or a distributed computing system or apparatus or apparatus such as a cloud system. Often the computing device has a network connection in order to communicate with other computing devices, such as servers or a cloud network.

[0144] The present disclosure has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments and examples as well. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those persons skilled in the art and practicing the described, from the studies of the drawings, this disclosure and the claims. Any steps presented herein can be performed in any order. The methods disclosed herein are not limited to a specific order of these steps. It is also not required that the different steps are performed at a certain place or in a certain computing node of a distributed system, i.e. each of the steps may be performed at different computing nodes using different equipment / data processing.

[0145] As used herein "determining” also includes "initiating or causing to determine”, "generating” also includes "initiating and / or causing to generate” and "providing” also includes "initiating or causing to determine, generate, select, send and / or receive”. "Initiating or causing to perform an action” includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node or device to perform the respective action.

[0146] In the claims as well as in the description the word "comprising” or "including” or simi-lar wording does not exclude other elements or steps and shall not be construed limiting to the elements or steps lined out. The indefinite article "a” or "an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation or further elements may be included.

[0147] Providing in the scope of this disclosure may include any interface configured to provide data. This may include an application programming interface, a human-machine interface such as a display and / or a software module interface. Providing may include communication of data or submission of data to the interface, in particular display to a user or use of the data by the receiving entity.

[0148] Any disclosure and embodiments described herein relate to methods, systems, apparatuses, devices, chemicals, materials, computer program elements lined out above and vice versa. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples and vice versa.

[0149] All terms and definitions used herein are understood broadly and have their general meaning.

[0150] Any disclosure and embodiments described herein are mere examples for implementing the method, the system or application device disclosed herein and shall not be considered limiting.

Claims

Claims:1 . A method for monitoring at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input for production of one or more chemical product(s), the method, comprising: providing energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; calculating a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data; assigning a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger; allocating the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account; providing an identifier associated with the chemical product produced by the chemical production using the energy input; and assigning the digital sustainability credit from the balancing account to the chemical product, wherein the digital sustainability credit is assigned to the identifier associated with the chemical product, wherein the chemical product identifier is a virtual identifier uniquely linked to the chemical product, providing the digital sustainability credit for monitoring the at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input for production of one or more chemical product(s).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital sustainability credit comprises a cost attribute, wherein the cost attribute specifies a monetary value associated with the digital sustainability credit.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: categorizing the cost attribute of the digital sustainability credit as a utility cost.

4. The method of claims 2 or 3, wherein the digital sustainability credit further comprises a quantity of energy generated attribute, wherein the value of the quantity of energy generated attribute corresponds to the quantity of renewable energy generated to produce the energy attribute certificate.

5. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the digital sustainability credit further comprises an expiration attribute indicating when the digital sustainability credit expires.

6. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the material number is specific to a production site.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein producing the chemical product using the energy input comprises: producing the chemical product using the energy input at the production site.

8. The method according to claims 6 or 7, wherein the production site acquires the energy input and the digital sustainability credits.

9. A non-transitory computer readable data medium storing a computer program including instructions for executing steps of the method according to any of the preceding claims.

10. An apparatus for monitoring at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input for production of one or more chemical product(s), the apparatus comprising: an input interface configured to receive energy input data associated with the energy input, wherein the energy input data includes digital data representing at least a portion of an energy attribute certificate; at least one processor configured to (I) calculate a digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input from the energy input data (ii) assign a material number to the digital sustainability credit, wherein the material number uniquely identifies the digital sustainability credit on a material ledger, (ill) allocate the digital sustainability credit associated with the energy input to a virtual balancing account (iv) provide an identifier associated with the chemical product, (v) assign the digital sustainability credit from the balancing account to the chemical product, wherein the digital sustainability credit is assigned to the identifier associated with the chemical product, wherein the identifier associated with the chemical product includes a chemical product identifier relating to a chemical product specification wherein the chemical product identifier is associated with the physical entity of the chemical product, wherein the chemical product identifier is a virtual identifier uniquely linked to the chemical product and and output interface configured to provide the digital sustainability credit for monitoring the at least one sustainability attribute associated with an energy input for production of one or more chemical product(s).11 . The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the digital sustainability credit comprises a cost attribute, wherein the cost attribute specifies a monetary value associated with the digital sustainability credit.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the processor is further configured to: categorizing the cost attribute of the digital sustainability credit as a utility cost.

13. The apparatus according to claims 10-12, wherein the digital sustainability credit further comprises a quantity of energy generated attribute, wherein the value of the quantity of energy generated attribute corresponds to the quantity of renewable energy generated to produce the energy attribute certificate.

14. The apparatus according to claims 10-13, wherein the digital sustainability credit further comprises an expiration attribute indicating when the digital sustainability credit expires.

15. The apparatus according to claims 10-14, wherein the material number is specific to a production site.

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