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QET-LNG: The Machine-Readable LNG Environmental Attribute Token
QET-LNG (Quantified Emissions Token — LNG) is EarnDLT's ISO-aligned, DID-compliant environmental attribute certificate for liquefied natural gas. One token represents exactly 1.0 MMBtu of LNG and carries a verified, lifecycle carbon intensity (CI) value expressed in kgCO₂e/MMBtu — encoded in a machine-readable JSON schema with full methodological provenance, cryptographically secured on EarnDLT's Hedera Hashgraph registry.
QET-LNG is the compliance artifact that connects North American LNG producers to EU importers under Regulation (EU) 2024/1787 (the EU Methane Regulation). It is independently validated by the Payne Institute for Public Policy at Colorado School of Mines as a compliant LNG attribute token consistent with ISO frameworks and EU import-facing MRV requirements.
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What Is QET-LNG?
A QET-LNG token is a thermal certificate — a digital artifact in which a token equals a standardized unit of energy (1.0 MMBtu) paired with verified emissions attributes. It is not a carbon offset, a voluntary credit, or a book-and-claim certificate in the traditional sense. It is an evidence container: a machine-readable record that encodes the full lifecycle carbon intensity of a specific LNG cargo, the methodology used to calculate it, the verification opinion confirming it, and the chain-of-custody history tracking its transfer and retirement.
The token is designed to function as a compliance artifact that travels with LNG cargos from production through delivery — satisfying EU Methane Regulation Article 27 MRV equivalence requirements, supporting ESRS E1 Scope 3 disclosures, and enabling direct integration with CBAM import documentation and LCFS compliance reporting.
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Token Structure:
What's Inside Every Certificate
Each QET-LNG token contains the following structured data fields:
Field Category
Contents
Identity
Token ID (DID-compliant), registry address, issuance timestamp, version
Energy Quantity
1.0 MMBtu per token, with unit conversion documentation
Plant-Side Base CI
kgCO₂e/MMBtu — covers upstream production, processing, and liquefaction
Delivery-Adjusted Final CI
Plant-side base CI + transport emissions parameterized to buyer's delivery endpoint
Transport Calculation
GREET factor (0.004632567 kgCO₂e/mile/MMBtu), GIS distance (±2% tolerance), annual re-verification
Uncertainty Range
Quantified per-token CI uncertainty (e.g., ±10%), calculated and transparently reported
Evidence References
Links to meter calibrations, utility bills, injection tickets, third-party reports, attestations
MRV Methodology
Specific framework(s) applied (OGMP 2.0, MiQ, ISO 14067, etc.) captured as provenance metadata
Verification Opinion
Accredited third-party verifier identity, scope, criteria, and opinion statement
Quality Assurance
Calibration standards, detection limits, measurement audit records, QA/QC validation results
Chain of Custody
Issuance, transfer history, retirement status, retirement reference (contract/cargo ID)
Retention
Cryptographically secured; minimum 10-year record retention
The data model is schema-driven: required fields are enforced at the registry level, and tokens that fail pre-issuance validation checks are blocked from minting. Weak submissions never become tokens.
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Carbon Intensity
Calculation Methodology
QET-LNG's CI calculation covers the full LNG lifecycle from wellhead to delivery endpoint, segmented into four stages:
- Upstream Emissions — Production and processing
Best practice is direct measurement of fugitive methane emissions using continuous monitoring, aerial surveys, or satellite instrumentation, supplemented by analytics. Where direct measurement is not available, recognized emissions factors are applied with explicit documentation. - Midstream Emissions — Pipeline transmission
Currently relies on measurement-based estimates where available and recognized emissions factors applied to pipeline miles where instrumented data is absent. QET-LNG captures the specific methodology and its evidentiary basis within the token. - Liquefaction Emissions
Tied primarily to energy consumed in cooling; calculated using facility-specific energy consumption data and validated emissions factors. - Shipping and Delivery Emissions
Calculated in real time at marketplace delivery using a validated GREET transport factor of 0.004632567 kgCO₂e/mile/MMBtu, GIS-derived route distance with ±2% tolerance, and annual re-verification of the GREET parameter.
When mass balance is applied to preserve chain-of-custody integrity during molecule mixing, the attribution method is recorded as part of the token's provenance metadata. Both mass balance and trace-and-claim architectures are supported.
ISO Alignment
QET-LNG's methodology aligns with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) across the following standards and requirements:
ISO Standard
Application in QET-LNG
ISO 14067:2018
Product carbon footprint — lifecycle boundary definition, CI calculation method, reporting transparency
ISO 14064-3:2019
GHG verification and validation — verification criteria, evidence sufficiency, verifier statement contents
ISO 14064-1:2018
GHG quantification and reporting — organizational-level emissions accounting feeding into CI calculations
ISO 14065:2020
Accreditation of GHG validation/verification bodies — verification must be performed by ISO 14065-accredited bodies
Although ISO does not mandate a specific digital format, its requirements map directly onto QET-LNG's schema-driven JSON structure. The schema enforces consistent layout, explicit field references, and versioning — satisfying ISO 14064-3 Clause 9.1 (contents of the verification statement) and ISO 14067 Clause 8 (reporting of product carbon footprint results).
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Data Quality and
Pre-Issuance Validation
The QET-LNG registry runs automated data quality and integrity checks before any token is minted:
- Materiality Threshold
A single batch whose CI varies by more than 5% is flagged and requires resolution before token issuance - Duplicate Prevention
Registry cross-checks prevent the same underlying data from generating multiple tokens (double-counting prevention) - Cross-verification
Reported values are compared against utility records and mass-balance calculations to detect inconsistencies - Calibration Documentation
Meter calibrations per ASTM/API standards are required fields; tokens referencing uncalibrated measurement are blocked - Uncertainty Quantification
Each token carries a transparently reported CI uncertainty range; tokens where uncertainty exceeds defined thresholds trigger increased measurement frequency requirements
These controls are not optional layers applied after minting — they are enforced preconditions. The immutable registry history records the outcome of every validation check.
Verification
Independent verification of QET-LNG tokens is performed by ISO 14065-accredited third-party verification bodies. The verification scope, criteria, evidence evaluation, and opinion statement are encoded permanently in the token's on-chain record — not stored in a separate system that can be lost, altered, or misplaced.
Verification protocols include:
- CI confirmed in kgCO₂e/MMBtu with all unit conversions documented and cross-checked
- Verifier compares reported values against independent calculations to confirm results are within allowed error limits
- Batch-level verification at a minimum 5% sample rate; portfolio-level verification at a minimum 2% sample rate
- Verification opinion references specific ISO criteria, as required under ISO 14064-3:2019 Clause 9.1
A single CARB-accredited verifier can issue one consolidated opinion covering both QET-LNG and LCFS requirements simultaneously, eliminating duplicate audits for producers serving both EU and California markets.
Token Lifecycle:
Mint, Transfer, Retire
Retirement is irreversible and on-chain — a retired token cannot be transferred, re-used, or claimed again. The retirement record includes the contract reference, cargo ID, and delivery endpoint, making it directly usable as an Article 27 compliance artifact.
Regulatory Applications
QET-LNG's methodology aligns with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) across the following standards and requirements:
Regulatory Framework
QET-LNG Application
EU Methane Regulation Art. 27
MRV equivalence demonstration for import contracts; methane intensity reporting from 2028
ESRS E1 / CSRD
Scope 3 Category 11 (Use of sold products) disclosure for LNG suppliers; Scope 3 Category 1 (Purchased goods) for EU importers
CBAM
Embedded emissions evidence for natural gas import declarations
California LCFS
LCFS extension methodology adds quarterly CARB fuel transaction reporting fields to same underlying token
ISO 14067 reporting
Product carbon footprint disclosure for LNG as a product
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Book a QET-LNG DemoDownload "Tracking and Transacting Clean Natural Gas"
— Liam O'Byrne & Brad Handler, April 2026
Download the Payne Institute WhitepaperFAQ
Is one QET-LNG token always exactly 1.0 MMBtu?
Yes. The token denomination is fixed at 1.0 MMBtu per token. For a cargo of 3.4 Bcf, the importer acquires and retires the corresponding number of tokens matched to that volume.
Can QET-LNG tokens be used for voluntary carbon disclosures as well as regulatory compliance?
Yes. The token's structure supports both regulatory compliance (EU Methane Regulation, LCFS) and voluntary disclosure (CDP, SBTi Scope 3 reporting, ESRS E1 voluntary early adoption).
Is QET-LNG a crypto-asset under EU MiCA?
QET-LNG's structure has been designed with awareness of MiCA (Reg. EU 2023/1114) and MiFID II perimeter questions. EarnDLT recommends that buyers and sellers consult qualified EU legal counsel regarding their specific token transaction structures and whether CASP obligations apply.
Can QET-LNG tokens be transferred to registries other than EarnDLT's?
Yes. EarnDLT's registry is designed to be registry-agnostic. Tokens can be exported or mapped to external registries without losing the audit trail or provenance chain.
