VeChain’s New Patent Could Help Offset Carbon Emission

VeChain Global Technology has petitioned for a patent with the U.S. federal agency Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Filed on April 22^nd, 2021, the application seeks to register methods, devices, blockchain nodes, and a system for carbon recording and trading, per the document published by the agency.

The patent has been attributed to Jianliang Gu, Xinli Tian, and Ziheng Zhou, VeChain’s Chief Technical Officer (CTO). The document describes the method to obtain data related to carbon behaviors on different objects and then converting that data into corresponding carbon data. Later, the information will be stored in a blockchain-based platform for subsequent trading as a transaction.

For example, an electric vehicle with a unique ID could provide data on the amount of electrical energy consumed. This data could be compared to that of a combustion engine vehicle to determine a “baseline carbon emission amount” (BE). With a smart contract running on the blockchain platform, the owner of the vehicle can be incentivized to maintain its BE below average to receive a credit attached to its ID:

(…) The carbon credit and the unique ID to the block chain as a block chain transaction; receiving, at the block chain node, a request for a transaction to purchase a good or service with the carbon credit; and executing, with the at least one smart contract, a block chain transaction according to the request.

The carbon emission value will be written as a Hashed valued by performing a Hash operation. The hash will be transmitted to the blockchain and safe storage, as the document describes while adding the following:

the use data is collected by an IoT sensor operably coupled to the electric vehicle and transmitted to the block chain node via a computing device located in the electric vehicle.

VeChain’s Commitment To Reduce Carbon Emission

The document presented to the USPTO claims that greenhouse gases are the main cause of global warming. Therefore, VeChain Global Technology has come up with this method to implement “carbon emission technology”.

The mechanism will also attempt to provide a trustworthy and tamper-proof multi-purpose platform for enterprises to store their carbon emission data. Thus, reducing the “confusion” in carbon records without the intervention of a third party. The patent application claims the following:

With the solutions of the present disclosure, safe and credible recording of the carbon data may be achieved. Furthermore, according to some aspects of the present disclosure, safe and credible implementing and recording of the carbon trading may be achieved.

At the time of writing, $VET trades at $0.21 with a 2.7% loss in the daily chart. In the weekly and monthly chart, $VET has a 23.9% and 125% profit. Holders should be looking at a candle close above the $0.22 mark, this could lead to further gains and a break towards price discovery.