Petrobras Tests Cardano for Lower-Carbon Fuel Tracking

Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled energy company, is testing the Cardano blockchain to record environmental claims linked to sustainable aviation fuel and Diesel R, its renewable diesel made partly from vegetable oils and animal fats.

The Cardano Foundation announced the projects on Sept. 30. One centers on CS-SAF, a platform developed with PUC-Rio University’s Ledger Labs. The other proposes a system that would track Diesel R from production through transportation and use.

CS-SAF converts attributes of sustainable aviation fuel into standardized digital tokens on Cardano. The tokens’ metadata is aligned with the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, known as CORSIA. Each token can be created, transferred, viewed and retired, allowing an emissions claim to be recorded and used once.

The platform is designed for the book-and-claim model used in some sustainable fuel markets. Under that system, an airline can buy the environmental benefit linked to sustainable fuel even when the physical fuel is used elsewhere. The records identify where the benefit originated, who received it and when it was claimed.

Passengers could enter their departure and destination airports to receive a certificate linked to the original fuel certificate. The record would connect the passenger’s allocation to the underlying sustainable aviation fuel claim.

The Diesel R project would record information at each stage of production, transportation and use, creating a digital history of the fuel’s journey. The records could support companies’ Scope 3 emissions reporting, which covers indirect emissions connected to suppliers, customers and other parts of a company’s value chain.

Both projects remain in the research phase. The Diesel R system is described as a proposal. The announcement did not disclose the amount of fuel covered or a timeline for wider deployment.

“Brazil has been one of the most consistent adopters of Cardano, from SERPRO in government to SENAI in industry,” Cardano Foundation Chief Executive Frederik Gregaard said in a statement. “It’s great to see Petrobras, one of the largest firms in the region, continue to see value in on-chain provenance and traceability.”

Rafael Fraga, the foundation’s business development lead for Latin America, said in a statement that the energy transition would require reliable records for fuel and emissions claims. The projects add to Cardano’s work with Brazilian government and industrial organizations.