Fully sustainable solution for carbon-neutral LNG

Tallinn, Estonia

Established in 2019

hodlng.com

Teaser of the company

Our solution tracks the outcome on GHGs with granularity and traces a carbon-neutral cargo’s compensation activities and status. We unlock the possibility of splitting the task of reaching an LNG carbon-neutral cargo by providing a solution for multi actors to decarbonize (offset a volume of GHG) on a cargo. The users can claim the delivered offset actions. An audit or third party can access for verifying the details of compensation activities. Throughout the transaction’s lifetime, the system collects fees redistributed to NGOs, local communities, or associations vetted by the stakeholders.

Hodnlg tested and validated the following blockchain-based solution in the scope of BlockStart:

Biogas Tx

The overall concept is to track and record the GHG, CO2, and other related polluting gas, emission, consumption, and savings in parallel biogas production by a biogas plant. Based on savings, a corresponding number of credit tokens will be created and awarded to the biogas producer. A third party interested in offsetting its emission can connect to the solution and request to buy (or swap against other activities) some credit tokens that will be delivered together with a proof of origin of the compensation activities. The original owner of the credit tokens will receive a payment or an equivalent compensation (e.g., a service or the supply of material).

Following further investigations of the ecosystem and our discussions with several stakeholders, we consolidated the concept by extending it toward a comprehensive view that integrates all the supply chains in the biogas production process. The idea now considers the source of the material (e.g., feedstock, organic waste) used for biogas production and estimates the amount of emission or savings depending on both the source and the biogas production processes.  By comparing the generated gas emissions with or without using the primary source in biogas production, we can assess the savings vs. the costs without biogas production. This will also highlight further the difference between using waste vs feedstock. Then during the biogas production process, some non-biogas gas may also be filtered and separated for being reused in other industries. This will also account for specific savings. This improved concept enables, in addition, distribution rewards to the savings parties along the supply chain.

Note that at this stage, all savings/costs are mainly based on general estimation, but it is foreseen to rely on the existing probes in the system to measure them when possible. 

Finally, additional features related to data sharing and auditing capabilities will be planned in the future. It was emphasized the value of allowing additional stakeholders (e.g. auditors) to use the solution, as will benefit from the information collected by the solution.

Technical development during Prototype stage

During the development of Biogas TX, the following technical developments have taken place:

  • Most of the blockchain and database management building blocks rely on our MVP’s existing back-end architecture, and thus can be considered ready (modulo small adaptation to be made during pilot phase)

  • A fundamental building block is the set of smart contracts that will support the GHG/CO2 credit, offset and reward functionalities.

  • Test of several design concepts for the smart contracts and tokens to be implemented. Part of the internal tests made is based on preliminary concepts of carbon credit tokens tried during several hackathons by HODLNG blockchain developers (cf. an extract in Annex).

Business development during Prototype stage

During the development of Biogas TX, the following business developments have taken place:

  • The main lessons learned from the iterative validation meeting with biogas stakeholders conducted with prospective customers have underlined a paramount curiosity by biogas producers into the idea to tokenize the level of negative CO2.

  • The interest in adopting new technology has aroused much attention, on the one hand, but also more commitment than we had expected.

  • Receiving support of compensation for their activities has highlighted the need to be less dependent on public financial resources and the need to relaunch a virtuous dynamic to encourage the development of biogas.

  • HODLNG successfully achieved KPIs

    • prospected 76 biogas producers within LinkedIn and generated 54 leads surpassing 14 of the expected KPIs (KPI/40) of the initiation of consumer interest or inquiry into products or services of our business. We achieved approximately more than 70% of our prospects.
    • We converted 9 of our Marketing qualified leads (MQL) to the discovery calls to collect functional needs. 
    • We proceeded at in-depth talks focused on product functionalities and tech interactions with 7 companies. (KPI/4)
    • In the end, we came up with 7 declarations of interest for pilot (3 Eligible +4 Non-Eligible) (KPI/3)
    • We expect 3 SMEs to join if there are no administrative barriers: (KPI/1) 

Meet the Team

Jean-Christophe Finidori
Jean-Christophe Finidori Founder, CEO
20 years of Internet expertise, former UN civil servant, ICANN, award-winning publications, Commercial Science Academy award in France
Snjezana Jovanovic
Snjezana Jovanovic Founder, COO
International relation expert, EU energy, government bodies engage, partnerships and resources mobilization, communication
Julien Bringer
Julien BringerFounder, CTO
Scientific solid research & technology innovation experiences, Serial innovator: 50+ pending patents, 80+ publications, system architecture

Hodlng’s achievements

Media features

For more information, download the company’s portfolio

“Thanks to the Blockstart programme, HODLNG’s team has got the opportunity to apply our solution to liquified natural gas to one for biogas sector. We had this idea in mind since a while, and it’s become a reality throughout the program. The added value of the programme lies in its two-sided involvement, which allows us to approach the users rapidly and efficiently.”

JEAN-CHRISTOPHE FINIDORI, CEO & Founder, HODLNG

Total funding received by HODLNG OÜ under BlockStart: €16,000 (€1,000 for Ideation Kick-off and €15,000 for Prototype stage)