Understanding the Book-and-Claim Model

The Book-and-Claim model is a way to scale up the use of sustainable products by decoupling their environmental attributes from physical distribution.

In other words, it allows the environmental benefits (like lower carbon emissions or sustainable sourcing) of a product to be claimed by a buyer even if that buyer never receives the physical product.

This approach is already used in markets such as renewable electricity (via Renewable Energy Certificates) and certified commodities like sustainable palm oil (via RSPO Credits), enabling broad participation in sustainability programs despite complex supply chains. By using Book-and-Claim, companies can support green production anywhere in the world and still claim verified emissions reductions (e.g. for Scope 3 supply-chain emissions) or other sustainability attributes for their own targets and disclosures.

What Is the Book-and-Claim Model (and How It Works)?

In essence, book-and-claim is a chain-of-custody system that separates the sustainability attributes of a product from its physical flow.

This system is needed because once green molecules enter shared infrastructure, like pipelines or blended fuel tanks, they become indistinguishable. Book-and-Claim solves this by maintaining a verified trail of sustainability data.

Think of Book-and-Claim as a receipt system for environmental benefits. A producer generates a verified low-carbon product, such as SAF or biomethane, and issues a certificate that represents the environmental attributes of that batch. These attributes might include:

• Verified feedstock source

  
  

• Renewable content percentage

  
  

• Greenhouse gas (GHG) savings

  
  

• Carbon intensity (CI) score

  
  

• Production method or facility

Here’s how it works in practice, step by step:

1. Production & Certification: A producer generates a batch of sustainable product (for example, 10,000 litres of Sustainable Aviation Fuel made from waste feedstock). This batch is produced under a recognised sustainability standard (such as RSB or ISCC), with its origin, feedstock, and carbon footprint independently certified. The verified data might show, for instance, the feedstock type, renewable content, and the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) savings achieved versus conventional fuel.

2. Certificate Issued: A certificate (paper or digital) is then issued to represent the environmental attributes of that specific batch. This certificate carries the batch’s key sustainability data – for example, the feedstock origin, the fuel’s carbon intensity, the percentage that is renewable, and the total GHG emission reduction achieved. The certificate is independently verified and entered into a registry or secure database, creating a unique record of that sustainable batch.

   
   

3. Transferred to Buyer: The certificate (often tradable like a credit or token) can be sold or transferred to a buyer, such as an airline, shipping company, or even a corporation, that wants to claim the sustainability benefit of that product. For example, an airline in Region A can purchase the certificate from biofuel produced in Region B, or a company can buy a SAF certificate (SAFc) to cover the emissions from employees’ air travel. The purchaser of the certificates or credits now owns the environmental benefit associated with that batch (like the emissions reduction or renewable content), which they can use toward their sustainability goals or reporting (e.g. Scope 3 emissions reductions). However, the physical batch is sold as conventional product without the sustainability attributes associated with it.

   
   

4. Claim & Retirement: Once the buyer uses the certificate to make a sustainability claim (for example, “we used X litres of SAF worth of emissions reduction”), that certificate is “retired” in the registry. Retiring the certificate means it cannot be claimed again by anyone else. This creates a clear audit trail and prevents any double-counting of the environmental benefit.

A simplified explainer of how the Book-and-Claim model works: Renewable fuel is delivered into the supply network at one location (1), a certificate of its carbon reduction is issued in a registry (2), and a customer elsewhere continues using conventional fuel but claims the green fuel (for example) environmental benefit via the certificate (3). This decoupling lets buyers support green fuel use anywhere while claiming the verified emissions reduction enabled by the purchase (4).

A Familiar Analogy: Renewable Electricity

If the Book-and-Claim concept sounds abstract, it’s actually very similar to how green electricity is bought and sold. When a wind farm or solar plant produces electricity and feeds it into the grid, those electrons mix with all the other power sources – you can’t direct the exact electrons from the wind farm to a specific source of energy consumption or a house. So instead, we use Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) or Guarantees of Origin. The renewable energy provider “books” a certain amount of green power into the grid, and a customer anywhere can “claim” that they paid for a corresponding amount of renewable generation, even though what comes out of their socket may be the generic grid mix. The certificate guarantees that somewhere an equivalent amount of clean energy was produced on their behalf.

Book-and-Claim applies the same logic to physical commodities like SAF. The certificate represents the environmental attributes of the sustainable product, such as emissions reduction or renewable origin, no matter where the physical product itself is used.

How Carbon Central Supports Book-and-Claim

Carbon Central is a digital platform designed to help producers and buyers implement Book-and-Claim systems with high confidence and ease. It provides the technological backbone to track each sustainable batch and certificate in real time, using advanced data and ledger tools. Key features include:

Batch-level tracing: Every verified fuel or energy unit is traceable

Tokenised units: Digital certificates represent the sustainability benefit of each batch

Registry-based control: Digital certificates are issued and retired on Hedera, creating a tamper-proof record

Integrated data: Data can be captured in real time via IoT, business systems, or manual uploads with full provenance.

For producers, this means:

• Full traceability of their sustainable production, with a granular record for every batch that can be easily shared with partners or auditors.

  
  

• Access to premium buyers and markets: they can issue tokens that attract buyers willing to pay extra for sustainability, expanding their reach to global customers without complex logistics.

  
  

• Simplified compliance and reporting, as the platform automatically logs the necessary data for sustainability certification and generates audit-ready documentation (no more juggling spreadsheets and paperwork).

  
  

• Support emerging markets, such as SAF, to increase global uptake of a sustainable alternative and contribute towards decarbonisation.

For buyers, it provides:

• Instant access to verified sustainability claims. Organisations can quickly procure the exact amount of certified green fuel or energy attributes they need, confident that each certificate is backed by robust data and standards.

  
  

• Secure proof and records for regulators and stakeholders, since every claim comes with a traceable token on an open ledger. Companies can use these records to satisfy GHG reporting requirements, track progress towards targets or ESG audits and to demonstrate to customers or investors that their claims are legitimate.

  
  

• Streamlined tracking – no need to manage complex bookkeeping for certificates in-house. Carbon Central’s dashboard replaces what might otherwise be a maze of emails and Excel files, with a clear, automated system for booking and retiring book-and-claim credits.

  
  

• Ready to implement a trusted Book-and-Claim system? Whether you’re looking to scale sustainable fuel production or to source green attributes for your operations, Carbon Central offers the digital tools to create verified, auditable claims backed by real-time data. It’s a practical, end-to-end solution to connect the dots between producers and users of sustainable commodities.

  
  

Contact us today to get started on integrating Carbon Central’s Book-and-Claim platform into your sustainability strategy.