JP2024066353A - Greenhouse gas emissions management method - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] The objective is to provide a method for efficiently managing greenhouse gas emissions, such as calculations, by business operators. [Solution] A method for managing greenhouse gas emissions according to one embodiment of the present invention, which determines information regarding energy usage based on information input by a business operator terminal, calculates greenhouse gas emissions based on the information regarding the usage, receives predetermined information from the business operator terminal via chat communication with the business operator terminal regarding credits that offset the greenhouse gases, and recommends information based on the received information. [Selected Figure] Figure 12

Description

The present invention relates to a method for managing greenhouse gas emissions.

Regarding greenhouse gas emissions by businesses associated with the use of fuel, electricity, etc., a reporting system for SCOPE 1 emissions (a company's direct emissions) and SCOPE 2 emissions (a company's indirect emissions) has become widespread, and progress has been made in calculating and reducing emissions in SCOPE 1 and SCOPE 2.

Non-Patent Document 1 proposes that, in order to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions by businesses, calculation of SCOPE 3 emissions, i.e., emissions from the supply chain (the entire series of processes including raw material procurement, manufacturing, logistics, sales, and disposal) of other related businesses be done in addition to SCOPE 1 and SCOPE 2 emissions.

"Concepts for Calculating Supply Chain Emissions," Ministry of the Environment, November 2017

However, although the technology disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 discloses methods for calculating greenhouse gas emissions related to SCOPE 3, it takes a great deal of time and effort for each business operator, particularly companies and local governments, to collect and input huge amounts of data to calculate emissions, calculate emissions, and manage the calculation results. In particular, in the area of GHG emissions management, the number of SCOPEs for emissions to be calculated is expanding, the data on which emissions are calculated varies widely for each SCOPE, and data management methods differ for each business operator, so improvements in business efficiency through the introduction of advanced technology are lagging behind.

The present invention aims to provide a method for reducing the amount of work required and efficiently managing emissions by utilizing advanced technology in the area of GHG emissions management, such as the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions by businesses.

A method for managing greenhouse gas emissions according to one embodiment of the present invention, which determines information regarding energy usage based on information input by a business operator terminal, calculates greenhouse gas emissions based on the information regarding the usage, stores information regarding credits that offset the acquired greenhouse gas emissions, and records the information regarding the credits in a blockchain.

The present invention provides a method for businesses to efficiently manage greenhouse gas emissions, including calculations.

1 is a diagram illustrating a greenhouse gas emission management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a management terminal constituting the greenhouse gas emission management system. FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a business operator terminal constituting the greenhouse gas emission management system. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating details of business entity data according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating details of invoice information according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of transaction information according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of transaction information according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a calculation process of greenhouse gas emissions according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for predicting the cause of a change in greenhouse gas emissions according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a transaction process of greenhouse gas emissions according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of transaction information according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 5A to 5C are diagrams illustrating an example of a chat communication screen displayed on a business operator terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 13 is a diagram illustrating another example of a chat communication screen displayed on the business operator terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating yet another example of a chat communication screen displayed on the business operator terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

The contents of an embodiment of the present invention will be listed and described below. A greenhouse gas emission management system (hereinafter simply referred to as the "system") according to an embodiment of the present invention has the following configuration.
[Item 1]
1. A method for managing greenhouse gas emissions, comprising:
determining information regarding energy usage based on input information from the operator terminal;
Calculating greenhouse gas emissions based on the usage information;
The method includes receiving predetermined information from the business operator terminal via chat communication with the business operator terminal, and recommending information regarding credits that offset the greenhouse gases based on the received information.
[Item 2]
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information regarding the credit is recommended based on the information regarding the greenhouse gas emissions received from the business terminal.
[Item 3]
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the credit recommendation information is based on information about the business's locations or products received from the business terminal.
[Item 4]
2. The management method according to item 1, wherein the information regarding the credits is recommended based on information regarding an increase or decrease in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions received from the business operator terminal.

First Embodiment
Hereinafter, a system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a greenhouse gas emissions management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the emissions management system 1 of this embodiment, an administrator terminal 100 and multiple business operator terminals 200A and 200B are connected to each other via a communication network NW.

For example, the management terminal 100 receives basic information about the business operator and input information (e.g., image data of invoice information) for calculating greenhouse gas (e.g., CO2) emissions from the business operator terminals 200A and 200B.

The management terminal 100 also uses machine learning to analyze the received image data of the invoice information, extracts the necessary items of the invoice information contained in the image data, and calculates the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. The management terminal 100 also uses machine learning to analyze the calculated changes in greenhouse gas emissions over time (e.g., increases and decreases) and predicts the cause of the changes.

Furthermore, the management terminal 100 has a wallet and is connected to the public blockchain network NW. The management terminal 100 generates a single hash value using SHA256 or other hash function based on the information on greenhouse gas emissions for each predetermined period, and records it as transaction information in the blockchain network. On the blockchain network, this block is generated based on the transaction information, the hash value recorded in the previous block, and the nonce value mined by the node, and is recorded following the previous block, forming a blockchain. Here, the hash generation and/or recording of the transaction information in the blockchain can be performed via another terminal rather than the management terminal 100. In this case, the management terminal 100 transmits the greenhouse gas emissions calculated by the matching process to the other terminal. Furthermore, the management terminal 100 can record the information on greenhouse gas emissions in the blockchain network as a smart contract. By using a smart contract, a contract regarding emissions trading with other businesses can be automatically generated, approved, and executed without the intervention of a third party based on the information on the emissions. Smart contracts also allow each business operator to access transaction information without going through a management terminal, improving service convenience and reducing operational costs.

As described above, a public blockchain is one in which transactions are approved by an unspecified number of nodes and miners, rather than by a specific administrator, and therefore can ensure higher data tamper resistance and fault tolerance than a private blockchain. Therefore, the security of transactions is guaranteed, and therefore a public blockchain is preferable as the destination for recording energy transactions in this embodiment. Representative public blockchains include Bitcoin and Ethereum, and Ethereum, for example, is one of the public blockchains that has higher tamper resistance and reliability.

The management terminal 100 can also associate information about greenhouse gas emissions using an identifier or the like and record it on the blockchain network as a non-fungible token (hereinafter, "NFT"). NFTs are tokens issued, for example, according to the "ERC721" standard of Ethereum, a blockchain network platform, and are a unit of data recorded on the blockchain network and are non-fungible in nature. NFTs are recorded on the blockchain together with smart contracts and are traceable, making it possible to certify transaction information including details and history of business information that manages greenhouse gas emissions.

Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the management terminal that constitutes the emissions management system.

The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for communicating with external terminals via the network NW, and communication is performed according to a communication protocol such as TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).

The memory unit 120 stores programs for executing various control processes and functions in the control unit 130, input data, etc., and is composed of a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The memory unit 120 also has an operator data storage unit 121 that stores various data related to operators, and an AI model storage unit 122 that stores learning data and learning models learned by AI (artificial intelligence) from the learning data. Note that a database (not shown) that stores various data may be constructed outside the memory unit 120 or the management terminal 100.

The control unit 130 controls the overall operation of the management terminal 100 by executing programs stored in the memory unit 120, and is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), etc. The functions of the control unit 130 include an information receiving unit 131 that receives information from an external terminal such as the business operator terminal 200, an image analysis unit 132 that analyzes image data such as invoice information received from the business operator terminal and calculates greenhouse gas emissions, a cause analysis unit 133 that analyzes the image data and analyzes the cause of time-series changes in the greenhouse gas emissions calculated based on the information contained in the extracted invoice information, a transaction processing unit 134 that performs processing to compile information on greenhouse gas emissions for a specified period, generate a hash value, and record it as transaction information in the blockchain network, and a report generation unit 135 that generates and transmits report data to output the results of an analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions and the causes of changes in emissions to the business operator every specified period.

Although not shown, the control unit 130 also has an image generation unit, which generates screen information to be displayed via a user interface of an external terminal such as the business operator terminal 200. For example, using image and text data stored in the storage unit 120 as material, the control unit 130 generates information to be displayed on the user interface by arranging various images and text in a predetermined area of the user interface based on a predetermined layout rule. Processing related to the image generation unit can also be executed by a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

The management terminal 100 also has a wallet (not shown) necessary for recording transaction information in the blockchain network. Note that this wallet can also be located outside the management terminal 100.

Figure 3 is a functional block diagram of the business operator terminal that constitutes the emissions management system.

The operator terminal 200 includes a communication unit 210, a display operation unit 220, a memory unit 230, and a control unit 240.

The communication unit 210 is a communication interface for communicating with the management terminal 100 via the network NW, and communication is performed according to a communication protocol such as TCP/IP.

The display operation unit 220 is a user interface used by the operator to input instructions and display text, images, etc. according to input data from the control unit 240, and is composed of a display, keyboard, and mouse if the operator terminal 200 is configured as a personal computer, and is composed of a touch panel, etc. if the operator terminal 200 is configured as a smartphone or tablet terminal. This display operation unit 220 is started up by a control program stored in the memory unit 230 and executed by the operator terminal 200, which is a computer (electronic calculator).

The memory unit 230 stores programs for executing various control processes and functions within the control unit 240, input data, etc., and is composed of RAM, ROM, etc. The memory unit 230 also temporarily stores the contents of communication with the management terminal 100.

The control unit 240 controls the overall operation of the operator terminal 200 by executing the programs stored in the memory unit 230, and is composed of a CPU, GPU, etc.

Figure 4 is a diagram explaining details of business data according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The business data 1000 shown in FIG. 4 stores various data related to the business acquired from the business via the business terminal 200. In FIG. 4, for convenience of explanation, an example of one business (a business identified by a business ID "10001") is shown, but information on multiple businesses can be stored. The various data related to the business can include, for example, basic information of the business (e.g., the business's corporate name, user name, address, industry, contact information, email address, business name, affiliated company name, business name related in the supply chain, etc.), input information (e.g., image data of invoice information, etc.), analysis information (e.g., invoices extracted from image data, greenhouse gas emissions, information on predicted causes of changes in greenhouse gas emissions, etc.), customer information (e.g., customer ID, blockchain address, etc.), and offset report information (e.g., TXID, NFTID, etc.).

Figure 8 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for calculating greenhouse gas emissions according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

First, in the process of step S101, the information acquisition unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the management terminal 100 acquires image data including invoice information collected by the business operator from the business operator terminal 200 via the network NW. The business operator uploads invoices, receipts, slips, etc. (collectively referred to as "invoices" in this embodiment) in file formats such as PDF, Excel, JPG, etc. (collectively referred to as "image data" in this embodiment) via the business operator terminal 200 to the management terminal 100. The image data acquired by the information acquisition unit 131 is stored as input information in the business operator data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120.

Next, in the process of step S102, the image analysis unit 132 of the control unit 130 of the management terminal 100 analyzes the image data acquired in the previous step by machine learning. Here, the image analysis uses a technique known as OCR, and the image analysis unit 132 of the control unit 130 of the management terminal 100 recognizes text from the image data using a learning model generated in advance by learning image data of multiple invoices in various formats stored in the AI model storage unit 122 of the memory unit 120, and extracts items included in the invoice information as structured character string data. Here, the image analysis can also use an image analysis engine (OCR engine, etc.) provided by a business operator other than the management terminal 100 that is linked by an API.

Image analysis is performed by recognizing and extracting text from image data containing invoice information, as shown in FIG. 5, for example. As shown in FIG. 5, invoice information includes various items included in the invoice, such as the name of the breakdown of the electricity fee, the amount (yen) for each breakdown, the contracted power (kW), the amount of electricity used for each breakdown (kWh), the total amount (yen), and the date (year and month). In this example, an invoice breakdown for an electricity fee is illustrated, but the invoice may be for charges related to the amount of other energy used, including gas and fuel, in addition to electricity, or may be, for example, a receipt for travel expenses, a receipt for an employee's commuting expenses, an invoice for transactions with a cargo company, or a breakdown of an invoice for transactions with a waste disposal company. The image analysis unit 132 can extract amount information, activity amount information, and the like included in the invoice information as text by analyzing the image data of the invoice information. The extracted invoice information is stored as analysis information in the business data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120. In this way, image analysis using machine learning allows businesses to obtain the vast amount of necessary information for calculating greenhouse gas emissions as image data without having to manually input invoice information, and highly accurate image recognition allows the information necessary for calculating greenhouse gas emissions to be accurately extracted, thereby making it possible to calculate greenhouse gas emissions more efficient and with greater accuracy.

Next, in step S103, the image analysis unit 132 of the control unit 130 calculates the greenhouse gas emissions based on the invoice information extracted from the image data. Here, the greenhouse gas emissions are classified into SCOPE1, SCOPE2, and SCOPE3, where SCOPE1 is direct greenhouse gas emissions by the business itself (e.g., emissions associated with fuel combustion and industrial processes), SCOPE2 is indirect emissions associated with the use of electricity, heat, gas, etc. supplied to the business by other companies, and SCOPE3 is a calculation standard for the emissions of an organization's entire supply chain issued by the GHG Protocol, and refers to the emissions of the business's supply chain (the entire series of flows such as raw material procurement, manufacturing, logistics, sales, and disposal). SCOPE3 is further classified into 15 categories: (1) purchased products/services, 2) capital goods, 3) fuel and energy-related activities not included in SCOPE1 and SCOPE2, 4) transportation and distribution (upstream), 5) waste from business, 6) business trips, 7) employee commuting, 8) leased assets (upstream), 9) transportation and distribution (downstream), 10) processing of sold products, 11) use of sold products, 12) disposal of sold products, 13) leased assets (downstream), 14) franchises, and 15) investments. Here, greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), but in this embodiment, CO2 is used as an example.

Greenhouse gas emissions are calculated by defining a business's electricity usage, cargo transport volume, waste disposal volume, and various transaction values as activity volume, and multiplying the activity volume by the CO2 emissions per kWh of electricity used, the CO2 emissions per ton of cargo transported, and the CO2 emissions per ton of waste incinerated as emissions units. Greenhouse gas emissions are calculated for the above-mentioned SCOPE 1, SCOPE 2, and SCOPE 3 (SCOPE 3 is divided into 15 categories), and the total emissions are calculated as supply chain emissions.

In this embodiment, the image analysis unit 132 extracts related invoice information by SCOPE1, SCOPE2, and SCOPE3 (and further by category for SCOPE3), and calculates the emissions based on the invoice information, for example, the electricity usage in kWh, using the above calculation method. The calculated emissions are stored as analysis information in the business operator data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120.

Next, in step S104, the report generation unit 135 of the control unit 130 generates a visualized report showing a breakdown of emissions over time by SCOPE (and further by category for SCOPE 3) based on the information related to the calculated emissions.

Figure 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for predicting the causes of changes in greenhouse gas emissions according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

First, in the process of step S201, the cause analysis unit 133 of the control unit 130 of the management terminal 100 refers to the information on the greenhouse gas emissions of the business operator calculated in step S103 of FIG. 8. Here, for the greenhouse gas emissions, the amount of emissions by SCOPE (and further by category for SCOPE 3) is referred to. In addition, the cause analysis unit 133 can check the change (increase or decrease) in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions by referring to the past emission amount data of the same business operator. As described above, the emission amount is stored as analysis information in the business operator data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120.

Next, in the process of step S202, the cause analysis unit 133 analyzes and predicts the cause of the change in emission amount by machine learning based on the emission amount information referenced above. Here, in the cause analysis, the cause analysis unit 133 of the control unit 130 of the management terminal 100 predicts the cause of the change in emission amount by SCOPE (and further by category for SCOPE 3) by using the emission amount information referenced above, factors that affect the change (increase or decrease) in emission amount, and a learning model that has been generated by learning data on factors that affect the change (increase or decrease) in emission amount that is stored in advance in the AI model storage unit 122 of the memory unit 120.

Here, factors that affect the change (increase or decrease) in the output include, for example, weather, temperature, product demand and/or factory operation, store or factory business hours or operating hours, device or facility changes, software measures, energy saving actions, fuel conversion, energy menu changes, changes in business trips or commuting, and the amount of power generated by private power generation. Each of these factors affects the emissions of any one of the SCOPEs. For example, the factor of weather affects precipitation, wind volume, hours of sunshine, and temperature, with precipitation affecting the amount of water power generation, wind volume affecting the amount of wind power generation, hours of sunshine affecting the amount of solar power generation, and temperature affecting air conditioning. Furthermore, the amount of power generation affects the amount of private power generation, which affects the amount of CO2 emissions from electricity, thereby affecting the change in the emissions of SCOPE2, while air conditioning affects the amount of gas usage, which affects the amount of CO2 emissions from gas combustion, thereby affecting the change in the emissions of SCOPE1. Furthermore, energy saving activities, factory operation due to product demand, and business hours affect electricity usage, which affects SCOPE2. In addition, EMS, replacement of refrigeration equipment, introduction of energy-saving equipment, and automobile usage also affect electricity usage and thus affect SCOPE2, while automobile usage, fuel efficiency, boiler usage, and boiler efficiency affect fuel usage and thus CO2 emissions from fuel, which in turn affect SCOPE1.

In addition, the factor of product sales volume affects categories 1, 9, 10, 11, and 12 in SCOPE3, capital investment affects category 2, renewable energy ratio and amount of energy procured affects category 3, number of transports and changes in transport route affects categories 4 and 9, product loss rate affects category 5, business trips and number of people going to the office affects category 6, number of people commuting and number of employees going to the office affects category 7, power consumption affects category 8, reduction in processing through product improvements affects category 10, improvements to energy-efficient products affects category 11, increase in recycling rate affects category 12, office electricity of tenants affects category 13, franchise emissions affects category 14, and emissions of investment targets affects category 15.

In this way, machine learning is used to learn which factors affect which SCOPE or category, and by obtaining information about emissions and information about each factor from businesses, it is possible to predict the causes of changes in emissions. Here, by predicting the causes of emissions using machine learning, it is possible to efficiently and accurately predict the factors that affect changes in greenhouse gas emissions for each business and each SCOPE.

Next, in step S203, the report generation unit 135 of the control unit 130 generates a report that visualizes the causes of changes in emissions by SCOPE (and further by category for SCOPE 3) based on the information related to the predicted causes of changes in emissions analyzed above.

Figure 10 is a flowchart showing an example of greenhouse gas emission transaction processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

First, in the process of step S301, the transaction processing unit 134 of the control unit 130 of the management terminal 100 refers to the business operator data stored in the business operator data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120. Here, the business operator data to be referred to includes business operator analysis information (emissions of greenhouse gases for each SCOPE), etc.

Next, in step S302, the transaction processing unit 134 generates a hash value based on the business data referenced in step S301. That is, the transaction processing unit 134 generates one row of hash values for greenhouse gas emissions over a specified period using a hash function, and records the hash value as transaction information in the public blockchain. On the blockchain network, this block is generated based on the transaction information, the hash value recorded in the previous block, and the nonce value mined by the node, and is recorded following the previous block, forming a blockchain. Here, in this example, in order to reduce the cost associated with blockchain recording, it is recorded in layer 2 (e.g., a side chain) different from the main blockchain (so-called layer 1).

The transaction processing unit 134 can also assign and manage an NFTID by linking it to the blockchain record of the business operator's greenhouse gas emissions. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the business operator's customer ID can be assigned as customer information to the business operator data 1000, the blockchain address to be referenced can be stored, and the NFTID and TXID can be assigned as offset report information.

As shown in FIG. 6, on the blockchain network, a blockchain address is associated with each NFTID, and the management terminal 100 manages the NFTID and the customer ID. For example, information on greenhouse gas emissions related to a business corresponding to customer ID "2" can be read out by referencing the blockchain address for each NFTID, such as NFTID "13" and "14", as shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 shows information on an offset report associated with NFTID "14", in which a TXID is assigned in association with the offset report, and the offset report includes the CO2 emissions by SCOPE, the target year and month, and the report issue date. In addition to the CO2 emissions for the target year and month in this example, the most recent CO2 emissions, the reduced CO2 emissions, and the offset CO2 emissions can also be NFTized. In this way, by managing CO2 emissions as NFTs, businesses can trade NFTized certificates while ensuring non-tampering and reliability of the transaction, and can also certify the emissions to a third party.

Also, as shown in FIG. 11, the operator of the management terminal 100 can manage the so-called carbon offset credits procured from a third party as data, which are the greenhouse gas emission reduction amount as credits. In particular, the management terminal 100 can store data on the carbon offset credits procured from a third party in the credit data storage unit 123 of the memory unit 120, and record the stored data on the credits in the blockchain in association with the NFTID on the blockchain network. FIG. 11 shows, for example, information on a credit associated with a specific NFTID, in which a TXID is assigned in association with the credit, and the information on the credit includes the customer ID, project ID, project type, credit (reduction amount), credit issue date (if credit is traded), credit transaction date, etc. (if credit is traded). When a customer purchases a credit, the data can also be managed by linking it to the customer's CO2 emission information. In this way, by managing the credits as NFTs, while currently carbon offset credit transactions are managed by individual businesses and lack openness and transparency, businesses can trade NFT-ed certificates for credits while ensuring non-tampering and reliability of transactions, and can also certify the credits to third parties.

Regarding blockchain recording, the transaction processing unit 134 generates a line of hash values for carbon offset credits for a predetermined period using a hash function, similar to the above-mentioned CO2 emissions, and records the hash values as transaction information in the public blockchain. On the blockchain network, this block is generated based on the transaction information, the hash value recorded in the previous block, and the nonce value mined by the node, and is recorded following the previous block, forming a blockchain. Here, in this example, in order to reduce the cost associated with blockchain recording, it is recorded in layer 2 (e.g., a side chain) different from the main blockchain (so-called layer 1). Here, the transaction processing unit 132 can record information about credits and/or the above hash value, which is totaled monthly or annually, as transaction information in the public blockchain. Recording of transaction information is performed not each time credit is acquired, but at a specified interval (e.g., monthly or annually) and/or for each customer, thereby minimizing transaction recording, reducing transaction costs on the public blockchain, and ensuring the effectiveness of credit transactions using the public blockchain, particularly the highly reliable Ethereum.

Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a chat communication screen displayed on a business operator terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As described above, a method for calculating and managing greenhouse gas emissions has been explained. Conventionally, the method for purchasing credits to offset a business's greenhouse gas emissions was a manual procedure between the business and a trading company. However, as shown in FIG. 12, for example, a business can carry out the procedure for purchasing credit transactions with the business operating the management terminal 100 or a business acting as an intermediary in the transaction of credits to reduce emissions, via a chat communication screen displayed on the business terminal 200.

Here, as shown in FIG. 12, the business operator inputs predetermined information in the form of answering questions provided via a chat communication screen displayed on the business operator terminal 200, and the server terminal 100 (or a transaction intermediary business terminal, not shown) can search for credits based on the input information received from the business operator terminal 200 and transmit recommendable credits to the business operator terminal 200.

As an example of the input information, as shown in FIG. 12, a business operator can input information about the business's base or product for which they wish to offset, and/or the electric power company and contract plan they have a contract with.

Furthermore, as an example of input information, as shown in FIG. 13, the business operator can input the electricity usage fee via the electric power company and/or the amount of greenhouse gas (e.g., CO2) emissions calculated from the electricity usage fee. The business operator can select information presented based on the information stored in the server terminal 100, or the stored information can be automatically imported and confirmed by the business operator.

Furthermore, as an example of input information, as shown in FIG. 14, a business can input information regarding increases or decreases in greenhouse gas emissions (increasing or decreasing trends). For this information, too, based on the information stored in the server terminal 100, for example, the latest information on emissions is compared with information on past emissions, such as year-on-year or month-on-month changes, and the increase or decrease trend is determined. After that, the information can be automatically imported or questions regarding the information can be skipped.

Based on this or any of the information, server terminal 100 (or a transaction intermediary business terminal, not shown) searches a database that stores credit information using the target product/base, emissions, increase/decrease trends, etc. as keys, and sends information such as the project name, credit name, and price of the credit information extracted as the search result to business terminal 200 as recommended credit information. In this way, business operators can manage their greenhouse gas emissions and trade credits to offset emissions in a simple manner.

The above-described embodiment is merely an example to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention can be modified and improved without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention includes equivalents.

100 Management terminal 200 Business operator terminal

Claims (4)

1. A method for managing greenhouse gas emissions, comprising:
determining information regarding energy usage based on input information from the business device;
calculating greenhouse gas emissions based on said usage information;
The method includes receiving predetermined information from the business operator terminal via chat communication with the business operator terminal, and recommending information regarding credits that offset the greenhouse gases based on the received information. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the credits is recommended based on the information about the greenhouse gas emissions received from the business terminal. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the credit is recommended based on information about the business's locations or products received from the business terminal. The management method according to claim 1 , wherein the information regarding the credits is recommended based on information regarding an increase or decrease in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions received from the business operator terminal.