System and Method for Enabling Carbon Credit Rewards for Select Activities

• US 20090210295A1
• Filed: 02/11/2009
• Published: 08/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Accellion Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Accellion Incorporated
• Inventors: Jhingan, Nikhil, Skokowski, Paula, Edholm, Yorgen
• Application Number:
  US12/369,731
• Publication Number:
  US 20090210295A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06393 Score-carding, benchmarking or key performance indicator [KPI] analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/02 Agriculture; Fishing; Forestry; Mining
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply

Abstract

A set of activities are identified that are part of a defined objective to reduce carbon emission. A baseline for the set of activities is determined. An actor'"'"'s performance of any one of the set of activities is monitored in order to determine information about how the user performed the set of activities. A quantification (e.g. estimation) is made of the carbon conservation by the actor by comparing the information against parameters determined or identified from the baseline.

Claims

1. A system for quantifying carbon usage or reduction, the system comprising:

an activity monitor that is configured to detect a designated activity or behavior in order to generate data that reflects information about the user performing the designated activity; and

a calculator that is coupled to communicate with the activity monitor to receive the data, the calculator determining a quantity of carbon usage or reduction.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the calculator is configured to determine a carbon credit amount by comparing the quantified carbon usage to a baseline formulation.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the designated activity includes a single activity.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the designated activity corresponds to a set of activities that are identified as being part of a conservation objective.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the conservation objective corresponds to reducing carbon emissions related to personal transport of a user.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the designated activity corresponds to tracking usage of electronic document delivery or communications in place of instances requiring physical courier transport or in-person communications.

7. A computer-implemented method for quantifying carbon usage or reduction, the method being implemented using one or more devices, including at least one or more processors, the method comprising:

identifying a set of activities that are part of a defined objective to reduce carbon emission;

determining a baseline for the set of activities;

monitoring an actor'"'"'s performance of any one of the set of activities in order to determine information about how the user performed the set of activities; and

quantifying carbon conservation of the actor by comparing the information against parameters determined or identified from the baseline.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising identifying a plurality of parameters that are characteristic to how one or more of the activities in the set are performed, wherein determining the baseline includes accounting for the parameters as part of the baseline, and wherein monitoring the actor'"'"'s performance includes determining values of individual parameters associated with how the actor performs the one or more activities in the set.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the baseline includes determining one or more values associated with the baseline for the identified parameters in the plurality of parameters, and wherein monitoring the actor'"'"'s performance includes determining the one or more parameter values based on the actor'"'"'s performance in performing one or more of the designated activities.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein determining a baseline is dependent at least in part on a geographic designation or location of the actor.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein determining a baseline is dependent at least in part on a classification of the actor.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein identifying a set of activities that are part of a defined objective to reduce carbon emission includes identifying a set of activities that are part of the objective to reduce carbon emission during personal transport of the actor.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the set of activities include one or more activities selected from (i) a type of vehicle the actor drives, (ii) a time of day that the driver drives, (iii) a distance of the driver'"'"'s use of the vehicle, (iv) a distance traveled by the actor in the vehicle, (v) a style of driving of the actor, (vi) an amount that the actor commutes.

14. The method of claim 7, further comprising enabling the actor to exchange a carbon credit corresponding to the quantified carbon conservation.