Innovative Platform for Advanced Distribution of Sustainable Eco-Friendly Fuels

The RSB Book & Claim System is the key focal point of the entire project. It represents a cross-sectoral initiative for members and invited stakeholders that seeks to strengthen and accelerate the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors, especially aviation and maritime industries. The key goal is to promote purchases of sustainable fuels. According to research, these can achieve 80% GHG emission reductions compared to regular fossil fuels. And if certified against a robust and holistic standards or RSB, sustainable fuels can also ensure that their production does not create negative consequences for ecosystems and overall environmental security.

However, a major issue here is that investments needed to develop sustainable aviation and marine fuels’ technologies, production and supply chains are such that these fuels are only available at limited geographical locations, and at a higher cost compared to fossil fuels. This often makes it out of reach for the growing number of customers globally, which include airlines, corporate customers who want to reduce their emissions from business or cargo air travel.

When materials and products move along the supply chain, their attributes – including the sustainability benefits – are tracked, documented and verified via the process commonly referred to as ‘chain of custody’. RSB’s Book & Claim process provides a solution allowing customers to decouple specific attributes from the physical product – like its sustainability benefits – and transfer them separately via a dedicated registry. This approach, which has previously been implemented successfully in the renewable electricity sector, is particularly valuable for sectors like aviation and shipping.

RSB is leading the development of the Book & Claim system. Its work has been recognized by prominent regulatory organizations in the field, such as EU RED and CORSIA.

The goal set forth for GP Solutions team was related to RSB’s Book & Claim Registry — a multirole digital application which is a practical implementation of the RSB’s Book & Claim System. The functional component of the registry needed to accommodate a robust process for split financing of production and purchase of costly biofuels, initially in the aviation industry. The system concept is designed to allow interested corporate entities to partially invest into biofuel production and purchase in exchange for the so-called ’Book & Claim Units (BCUs)’, or ‘credits’. A BCU is a digital asset which can be securely transferred to another account holder who wishes to claim it. As such, the Registry is a secure and credible space for various interested companies willing to participate in promoting sustainable biofuel distribution.

As soon as the required amount of biofuel is produced and purchased, the participating corporate entities receive certificates confirming each credit issue transaction in exchange for fiat currency. These certificates are personalized for the participating company and serve as proof of partial compensation for a specific biofuel-related transaction.

Initially, there already was a working version of the Registry in the form of a simple application heavily bound to standard Excel sheets. After studying the initial scope of requirements, the project team assigned by GP Solutions embarked on a mission to transform the existing solution into a fully-functional modern web-app. In addition to the basic BCU credit issue workflow available in the previous app version, the new solution had to move the entire process to a new level by offering:

• A complete custom user-friendly UI along with easily navigable UX experience that would be properly adjusted for the target audience — representatives of large global corporations;
• Reliable bug-free performance powered by robust modern backend and frontend technologies;
• Enhanced security infrastructure and precautions protecting the transactions and private data.

The project team was entirely staffed by GP Solutions. At various project phases, it involved a number of specialists with various competences, including:

In terms of core technology stack, the team decided to go with a time-proven and widely used combination of React framework for the frontend,  Node.js for the backend, along with MongoDB as the central data storing and processing solution. The development process also involved Agile / Kanban management approach to ensure management flexibility. It also came in handy since many of the finally approved project parameters were discussed and formulated on the go with the Product Owner and key stakeholders on the Client’s side.

As a result, the team designed and developed a completely new solution compared to the previous version. Although rather straightforward in terms of functionality, it ensured high productivity and, most importantly, advanced security. In particular, the project team came up with a set of measures to facilitate advanced safety for highly demanding users forming the majority of the audience. These included numerous personal data protection options, data encryption, two-factor authentication and more. Besides, the system requires all the transactions to get confirmed by system administrators in order to take effect. Also, the RSB Registry was built to incorporate the ‘Four Eyes Principle’ for user account management. As part of the system, any significant changes to any account need to be reviewed and approved by more than one person.