Greenhouse gas transaction system

Abstract

A greenhouse gas transaction system for mediating greenhouse gas transactions between greenhouse gas sellers and buyers online is disclosed. The system comprises: a transactional information provision unit for providing information for selling greenhouse gas of a seller to a purchaser or providing greenhouse gas purchase condition information of the purchaser to the seller; and a transaction processing unit, which processes greenhouse gas transactions according to a transaction request of the purchaser or the seller who has checked the provided information, so that the greenhouse gas is delivered from the seller to the purchaser.

Description

Greenhouse Gas Trading System

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for mediating transactions between sellers and buyers, and more particularly, to a technology for mediating transactions involving greenhouse gases captured and stored by companies that emit greenhouse gases.

[0002] Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from various industries have been identified as a major contributor to climate change, leading to numerous policy efforts and budgets being implemented globally to reduce, mitigate, and sequester CO2 emissions. South Korea is also implementing a 2050 carbon neutrality policy, and various carbon emissions trading systems and carbon neutrality roadmaps have been established accordingly.

[0003] Meanwhile, carbon dioxide fertilization (carbon dioxide enrichment or carbon dioxide fertilization) involves artificially controlling the air environment within a facility to promote crop growth by supplying carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide fertilization, used in smart farms or closed-loop farms, increases crop yields by maintaining carbon dioxide concentrations three to four times higher than the general atmospheric concentration. Typically, a 20% increase in yield can be expected, with some crops, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, seeing increases of up to 30%. Carbon dioxide fertilization is being used in a variety of ways, from installing smart farm cells to cultivate specialized crops that grow biomass to reduce carbon dioxide emissions around industrial complexes, to purchasing and using carbon dioxide at the individual farm level.

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for mediating transactions for greenhouse gases for fertilization between sellers and buyers, as well as providing various additional services to the transaction parties.

[0005] A greenhouse gas transaction system according to one aspect mediates greenhouse gas transactions between greenhouse gas sellers and buyers online, and may include a transaction information provision unit that provides information on greenhouse gas sales from sellers to buyers or information on greenhouse gas purchase conditions from buyers to sellers, and a transaction processing unit that processes greenhouse gas transactions according to a transaction request from a buyer or seller who has confirmed the provided information, thereby enabling greenhouse gas delivery from the seller to the buyer.

[0006] The greenhouse gas trading system may further include a usage information acquisition unit that acquires greenhouse gas usage information of a buyer, and a usage information provision unit that provides the acquired greenhouse gas usage information to a seller.

[0007] This invention facilitates transactions between parties by mediating transactions for greenhouse gases used in fertilizer applications. Furthermore, based on carbon dioxide usage information from farms, companies can include relevant information in their sustainable management reports or receive recognition for their environmentally friendly activities. Furthermore, brokers can issue carbon credits to companies based on carbon dioxide usage information and share the value of these credits with farmers and companies.

[0008] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of the entire system according to one embodiment.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the greenhouse gas trading system of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment.

[0010] The aforementioned and additional aspects of the present invention will become more apparent through preferred embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention will be described in detail below, using these embodiments, to facilitate understanding and reproducibility for those skilled in the art.

[0011] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of the entire system according to one embodiment. The seller device (100) and the buyer device (200) are communication-capable computing devices used by the seller and the buyer, respectively, such as desktop computers or laptops, or mobile terminals such as tablet computers or smartphones. The seller may be a company equipped with facilities to capture and store greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide emitted from the use of fossil fuels, and the buyer may be a farmer who fertilizes crops using greenhouse gases to promote crop growth. For reference, the buyer may have its own facilities for crop cultivation or may utilize smart farm facilities provided by the company.

[0012] The greenhouse gas trading system (300) is a server system comprising one or more server computers, and is capable of data communication with seller devices (100) and buyer devices (200). The greenhouse gas trading system (300) provides an online platform for mediating transactions between sellers and buyers for greenhouse gases for fertilization, and can mediate transactions via the web, an app, or a web app. The subject of the transaction mediation may be carbon dioxide, and although the following description is limited to carbon dioxide, it is understood that other greenhouse gases may be the subject of the transaction mediation. In addition to mediating carbon dioxide transactions, the greenhouse gas trading system (300) can obtain information on buyers' carbon dioxide usage and provide it to companies, and can also provide additional services such as verifying companies' carbon dioxide reductions and granting benefits to companies based on the buyers' carbon dioxide usage information.

[0013] Meanwhile, although not illustrated in FIG. 1, a smart farm system may be established on the purchaser's side. The smart farm system may include one or more IoT devices that measure carbon dioxide concentrations, etc., and a concentration controller that automatically maintains the carbon dioxide concentration at a target level. Furthermore, a system that includes a greenhouse gas trading system (300) and at least a portion of the smart farm system may be referred to as a greenhouse gas management system.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the greenhouse gas trading system of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment. The greenhouse gas trading system (300) includes a network communication unit (310), a storage unit (320), and a control unit (330), and includes all essential components of a server that are not shown. The network communication unit (310) is a component for data communication with the outside world and supports one or more communication protocols such as TCP / IP. The storage unit (320) may be configured to include a main memory device, an auxiliary memory device, and a cache memory device in hardware, and important data that must be remembered even when power is cut off are stored and managed in the auxiliary memory device. In addition, the control unit (330) is configured to include one or more processors in hardware.

[0015] The control unit (330) includes a transaction information providing unit (331) and a transaction processing unit (332), and may further include at least one of a usage information providing unit (334), an emissions management unit (335), a manual providing unit (336), and an equipment transaction unit (337). The transaction information providing unit (331) may receive carbon dioxide sales information from each seller device (100) and provide it to buyers. For example, the transaction information providing unit (331) may publicly register carbon dioxide sales information on an online platform, thereby allowing buyers to check carbon dioxide sales information for each seller registered on the platform at any time. In addition, the carbon dioxide sales information may include at least one of carbon dioxide transaction conditions, price, purity, saleable quantity, and storage method.

[0016] The transaction processing unit (332) processes a transaction request from a buyer device (200) to purchase carbon dioxide from a specific seller. This transaction processing may include a payment process, an input process for receiving necessary information from the buyer for carbon dioxide delivery, and an information transmission process for transmitting buyer information, including a delivery address, to the seller to ensure carbon dioxide delivery to the buyer.

[0017] The usage information acquisition unit (333) acquires the purchaser's carbon dioxide usage information. In one embodiment, the usage information acquisition unit (333) provides a user interface for receiving carbon dioxide usage information from the purchaser, and receives and acquires the carbon dioxide usage information through the user interface. In another embodiment, the usage information acquisition unit (333) receives sensing data such as carbon dioxide concentration and fertilization amount from one or more IoT devices built for the purchaser's smart farm, and acquires the carbon dioxide usage information by directly generating carbon dioxide usage information based on the received sensing data. In another embodiment, the purchaser's smart farm system generates carbon dioxide usage information based on data sensed by one or more IoT devices, and the usage information acquisition unit (333) acquires the carbon dioxide usage information by receiving the carbon dioxide usage information from the smart farm system. In another embodiment, the usage information acquisition unit (333) receives information on the user's location, carbon dioxide usage amount, usage method, and supply means, and takes this into consideration to generate virtual carbon dioxide usage information to be used in the future, thereby acquiring usage information before and after use of the corresponding system.

[0018] The carbon dioxide usage information acquired by the usage information acquisition unit (333) may include carbon dioxide usage, carbon dioxide reduction, and carbon dioxide fixation. Below, examples of each estimation method will be examined. First, estimation of carbon dioxide fixation will be described. Carbon dioxide fixation refers to the storage of byproducts produced by photosynthesis in plants or soil, which prevents the carbon dioxide from functioning as a gas. Therefore, the first method for estimating carbon dioxide fixation is a method using carbon data such as the weight of harvested crops, soil samples, and agricultural byproducts. The second method estimates the carbon dioxide fixation of plants by estimating the amount of carbon dioxide released and distributed into the farm and the amount of carbon dioxide released into the external environment through ventilation and runoff. The third method estimates the carbon dioxide fixation based on the typical photosynthetic amount of plants through the crop growth cycle and harvest cycle.

[0019] Under normal conditions, carbon dioxide emissions can be estimated based on the amount of carbon dioxide used. The actual amount released into the environment can be estimated by subtracting the fixed carbon dioxide from the amount of carbon dioxide used. The amount and estimation method can vary depending on factors such as carbon dioxide recycling, the airtightness of the farm, and the artificial pressure created by the farm. Carbon dioxide reduction refers to eliminating the use or emission of carbon dioxide previously used or emitted, or replacing it with previously emitted carbon dioxide. Therefore, carbon dioxide reduction can be estimated using various methods, as follows:

[0020] (1) Carbon dioxide generators and generators consume additional energy to produce carbon dioxide and, in turn, produce carbon dioxide themselves. Therefore, replacing carbon dioxide already emitted from industrial activities—in other words, using carbon dioxide purchased as described above—can be recognized as carbon dioxide reduction. In this case, the reduction amount can be estimated based on factors such as the amount of carbon dioxide generated by the existing carbon dioxide generator, its power consumption, fuel consumption, the amount of carbon dioxide generated by the generator, and the total carbon dioxide emissions from each manufacturing, transportation, and use process.

[0021] (2) If the closedness of a farm is weak, strengthening the closedness and utilizing carbon dioxide fertilization can be recognized as a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions to the extent that the efficiency of carbon dioxide fertilization is improved due to the strengthened closedness. Therefore, the amount of carbon dioxide emissions released into the external environment can be detected and the amount of carbon dioxide reduction can be estimated based on this. For reference, the expressions “reduction” and “fixed” mentioned above can be replaced with expressions such as offset and savings, and each definition is for convenience of description only and includes all contents that are commonly defined.

[0022] The usage information providing unit (334) provides the carbon dioxide usage information of the buyer obtained by the usage information obtaining unit (333) to the seller. At this time, the usage information providing unit (334) may provide the carbon dioxide usage information to the seller who sold carbon dioxide to the buyer through the transaction processing unit (332), and the carbon dioxide usage information may be processed, sorted, etc. before being provided to the seller. If the carbon dioxide usage information includes carbon dioxide reduction and fixed amount, the seller (company) and user (farm) can have the carbon dioxide reduction and fixed amount details certified based on this. In addition, the seller can provide benefits such as price discounts when selling carbon dioxide to the buyer when the carbon dioxide reduction and fixed amount details are certified. In addition, the intermediary operating the greenhouse gas trading system (300) can also receive benefits and form profits and price competitiveness.

[0023] The emission management unit (335) determines the amount of carbon dioxide reduction from the carbon dioxide usage information obtained by the purchaser's usage information acquisition unit (333), and processes the payment of carbon dioxide emission rights to at least one of the seller who sold carbon dioxide to the purchaser and the purchaser (user) through the transaction processing unit (332) based on the determined amount of reduction. In one embodiment, the emission management unit (335) provides carbon dioxide usage information to an external verification agency through the network communication unit (310) and requests verification of the carbon dioxide reduction. If carbon dioxide reduction is certified through verification by the verification agency, carbon dioxide emission rights are paid to the seller / purchaser based on the amount of carbon dioxide reduction. Alternatively, emission rights payment may be performed through an external verification agency or an offset registry system instead of the emission management unit (355), i.e., an intermediary. Accordingly, the seller / purchaser can secure carbon dioxide emission rights to increase carbon dioxide emissions or use them for transactions.

[0024] When a greenhouse gas transaction is made through the transaction processing unit (332), the manual provision unit (336) provides a manual for greenhouse gas use and / or management to the purchaser's device (200) for the purchaser to utilize. The manual may be provided when the purchaser first purchases greenhouse gas, and an updated manual may be provided each time the manual is updated. Furthermore, the equipment transaction unit (337) may process a transaction for leasing or selling equipment for greenhouse gas fertilization to the purchaser who purchased the greenhouse gas. There are no restrictions on the type of equipment to be leased or sold.

[0025] Hereinafter, another embodiment of the transaction information provision unit (331) and transaction processing unit (332) described above will be described. The transaction information provision unit (331) can receive carbon dioxide purchase condition information from each buyer device (100) and provide it to sellers. For example, the transaction information provision unit (331) can publicly register carbon dioxide purchase condition information on an online platform, thereby allowing sellers to check the carbon dioxide purchase condition information for each buyer registered on the platform at any time. In addition, the carbon dioxide purchase condition information can include usage scale, usage summary, expected reduction amount, etc.

[0026] The transaction processing unit (332) processes a transaction when a transaction request to sell carbon dioxide to a specific buyer is received from the seller device (100). For example, the transaction processing unit (332) transmits the seller's transaction request to the buyer, and if the buyer approves the transaction request, the transaction processing unit (332) processes the process of entering delivery information, the payment process, and the information transmission process of transmitting the buyer's information, including the delivery address, to the seller to enable delivery of the carbon dioxide to the buyer.

[0027] Meanwhile, the transaction information provider (331) may provide only information on greenhouse gas sales, only information on greenhouse gas purchase conditions, or both. Accordingly, in the latter case, the transaction processing unit (332) may process greenhouse gas transactions upon a transaction request from a buyer, or upon a transaction request from a seller.

[0028] The present invention has been described above, focusing on preferred embodiments thereof. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in modified forms without departing from its essential characteristics. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. The scope of the present invention is set forth in the claims, not the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being encompassed by the present invention.

[0029]

[0030] [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 100: Seller Device 200: Buyer Device

[0032] 300: Greenhouse Gas Trading System 310: Network Communications Department

[0033] 320: Storage unit 330: Control unit

[0034] 331: Transaction Information Provision Department 332: Transaction Processing Department

[0035] 333: Usage information acquisition section 334: Usage information provision section

[0036] 335: Emissions Management Department 336: Manual Provision Department

[0037] 337: Equipment Trading Department

Claims

1. In a greenhouse gas trading system that mediates greenhouse gas transactions between greenhouse gas sellers and buyers online, A transaction information provider that provides information on the seller's greenhouse gas sales to the buyer or information on the buyer's greenhouse gas purchase conditions to the seller; and A transaction processing unit that processes greenhouse gas transactions based on transaction requests from buyers or sellers who have verified the provided information, thereby ensuring that greenhouse gas is delivered from the seller to the buyer; A greenhouse gas trading system that includes .

2. In paragraph 1, A usage information acquisition unit that obtains the purchaser's greenhouse gas usage information; and Usage information provision department that provides acquired greenhouse gas usage information to sellers; A greenhouse gas trading system that includes more.

3. In paragraph 2, A greenhouse gas trading system that includes at least some of the greenhouse gas usage information, including the amount of greenhouse gases fixed in plants, the amount of greenhouse gases reduced, and the amount of greenhouse gases used.

4. In paragraph 1, A usage information acquisition unit that obtains the purchaser's greenhouse gas usage information; and An emissions management department that processes greenhouse gas emission rights to be paid to at least one of the seller and buyer based on the amount of greenhouse gas reduction identified from the acquired greenhouse gas usage information; A greenhouse gas trading system that includes more.

5. In either paragraph 1 or paragraph 3, A manual provision department that provides manuals for greenhouse gas use and / or management to purchasers of greenhouse gases; A greenhouse gas trading system that includes more.

6. In either paragraph 1 or paragraph 3, An equipment trading division that leases or sells equipment for greenhouse gas fertilization to buyers who purchase greenhouse gases; A greenhouse gas trading system that includes more.

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