Petrobras Uses Cardano to Track Sustainable Aviation Fuel Attributes
Petrobras developed a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) platform in partnership with PUC-Rio University’s Ledger Labs and the Cardano Foundation. According to the Cardano Foundation’s case study, the system represents SAF environmental attributes as standardized CS-SAF tokens on the Cardano blockchain.
The tokens can be created, transferred, verified and retired. Retiring a token prevents the same environmental attribute from being claimed again, while the digital record links the allocation to the original fuel certificate. The model applies the crypto industry’s concept of preventing double spending to environmental claims, helping ensure that a digital sustainability asset is not reused.
Travelers can enter their departure and destination airports to calculate a CS-SAF allocation, the Cardano Foundation says. They then receive a certificate showing the route, distance and allocation, with the claim remaining linked to the original SAF certificate. The tokens also carry metadata aligned with CORSIA, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.
Book-and-Claim Does Not Change Physical Fuel Use
In guidance published June 16, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials said Book-and-Claim changes neither the physical fuel used by a buyer nor the emissions associated with that fuel. Airlines should therefore disclose supported emissions reductions separately from their operational emissions.
Multiple participants across the value chain may make distinct claims under the model, provided their disclosures do not misrepresent the overall emissions reduction. This distinction is central to the use of digital certificates: the system records and allocates environmental attributes, but it does not mean that a specific traveler or buyer physically received the SAF represented by the certificate.
Cardano’s Proposed Diesel R Project Extends Beyond Aviation
Cardano’s potential application in fuel traceability also extends beyond aviation. The Diesel R project, developed with PUC-Rio, proposes checkpoints across fuel production, transportation and use. Its objective is to create a continuous record of the fuel lifecycle that could support Scope 3 reporting, which covers indirect emissions across a company’s broader value chain.
The proposed architecture would connect information held by suppliers and logistics providers, giving emissions reports a more traceable supply-chain history. The Cardano Foundation describes the approach as a proposed model within research and development work rather than as a quantified commercial deployment.
Commercial Scale Remains Unquantified
The Petrobras SAF platform demonstrates how Cardano can record the allocation and retirement of environmental benefits. However, the Cardano Foundation’s disclosures do not provide transaction volumes or revenue figures, leaving the platform’s commercial use unquantified.
Why This Matters
SAF certificates and Book-and-Claim systems are designed to help aviation participants account for environmental attributes when physical fuel supply chains cannot be directly matched to individual buyers or routes. A traceable digital record can help document how an allocation was created, transferred and retired, while CORSIA-aligned metadata may support more consistent information handling.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials guidance also underscores the need to separate environmental claims from an airline’s operational emissions. For Cardano and its partners, the next step indicated by the available information is continued research and development, including potential supply-chain applications such as Diesel R. The reported material does not establish the platform’s transaction scale, revenue performance or broader commercial adoption.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Petrobras SAF platform?
It is a platform developed by Petrobras with PUC-Rio University’s Ledger Labs and the Cardano Foundation to represent SAF environmental attributes as CS-SAF tokens on Cardano.
What happens when a CS-SAF token is retired?
Retirement prevents the same environmental attribute from being claimed again. The digital record also traces the allocation back to the original SAF certificate.
Does Book-and-Claim change the fuel used by an airline or traveler?
No. The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials says Book-and-Claim changes neither the physical fuel a buyer uses nor its associated emissions. Supported reductions should be disclosed separately from operational emissions.