Carbon Offset Initiative (COI)

What is Carbon Offset Initiative

The world pollution generated by carbon-led production and globalisation is reaching repetitive peaks and is a major threat to our future.

Efforts are being made by various governments, industrialists or institutions but at a too low rate, due to various factors such as short-termism or misconceptions.

The current generation of Heads of States or CEOs was shaped in a fossil fuel economy and has a hard time understanding that the needed green actions are not expenses but investments.

Our team sincerely believes that the ‘’green revolution’’ will be as impactful as the ‘’internet revolution’’ or the “industrial revolution” in terms of innovation and employment as well as investment opportunities.

Our objective is to solve problems in a new manner by combining our team’s experience and network with digitalisation and blockchain, both being powerful resources for implementation and success.

Our research shows that the shipping sector is ideal for carbon minimization potential and that a proper disposal of its waste oil is even carbon negative.

COI, the acronym for Carbon Offset Initiative, closely reflects both our intention as well as the concrete results we aim at: Carbon Offsetting by optimizing the ’’bunker fuel-oil to slops to energy’’ cycle and the management of waste and emissions. This optimization process renders the recovered fuel-oil carbon negative, as in contrast to crude oil, it does not have to be explored, produced, refined and transported, thus decreasing significantly the carbon footprint.

Project Synopsis

Industrial, information, consumption and global economic growth put a tremendous strain on our planet’s environment and future sustainable development.

However, the one thing that everyone seems to underestimate is that we live on a planet with limited physical resources, and we are using them up beyond any reason and produce ever increasing amounts of waste and emissions.

At the same time, the legal requirements to trace and prove total disposal or destruction of non-recyclable waste as well as to reduce emissions are getting tighter and more enforced across the globe. Ever growing production of waste poses a major challenge to traceability and proper disposal.

Scientists, industrialists and states are trying to deal with the waste and emission related issues. Despite the time pressure, such global problems are dealt with locally, i.e. much too slow.

CARBON OFFSET INITIATIVE SOLUTION

With our extensive experience in waste recycling, we have been deeply involved in the reality of the recycling processes of oily waters and slops. There are three key concerns for shipping companies and owners:

• Is the recycling job done legally, timely, and in a quality manner for the given quantity?
• Are the involved parties paid according to agreements and minimum payments in cash?
• Have we overpaid (hidden theft)?

After we have identified the control problem as a root cause for illegal spillage and fuel theft, we have devised a cost efficient, easy to implement and operate solution for remote monitoring of bunker and waste processing (figure 1 ) based on blockchain. Our solution has two layers, the hardware consisting of measurement and telecommunication devices, and the software.

COI’s platform can be adapted to ship owners’ needs (emissions, speed, positioning, weather, etc.)

Our system is conceived to be adaptable and its configuration matching the clients’ needs.

For example, the client can choose part or all the solution from the above scheme, from managing and optimizing its consumption and emissions to the control of the full ‘’bunker fuel to slops’’.

Our system includes both a hardware and a software layer:

Hardware layer (in blue):

The hardware part consists of devices that collect and transmit the collected data.

Vessels would be equipped with automated devices to:

• Measure the quantities of bunker-fuel and slops in their respective tanks at each stage of the process, from bunker fuel loading onto the boat up to the slops disposal;
• Potentially measure the cargo (tankers);
• Measure the oily water density and composition at multiple levels in the tank, to track the quality of the slop;
• Register some external parameters potentially impacting consumption and emissions;
• Transmit the measures by GSM or satellite to control centres.

Recycling plants would get similar devices to measure the quantity and density of the acquired slops to be processed. A telecommunication device would also transmit these measures, and upon processing, the quantities of solid residue, water and oil recycled from the initial slop.

Upon request, the port collectors and transporters could also be equipped with devices to measure the quantity and density of the collected and transferred slops.