Decentralized Carbon Emissions Trading Infrastructure

Abstract

One of the main problems behind the Kyoto Protocol is the implicit attempt to build a centralized, monolithic complex system. Instead, a decentralized, system-of-systems approach would have avoided the problems behind the infrastructure imposed by the protocol and attracted more participants. This thesis specifies a complete system-of-systems architecture model for a Decentralized Carbon Emissions Trading Infrastructure(D-CETI) with a focus on privacy and system security goals. A detailed D-CETI architectural model is specified. The structure and behavior are implemented as a solution to the problem of trading carbon emissions anonymously between the trading agents. The privacy and security of the trading agents and their carbon credits are the main requirements that guided the architecture of D-CETI. The decentralized structure of multiple systems and distributed behavior are the two main features of D-CETI that distinguish it as a decentralized system-of-systems in comparison to the traditional carbon trading schemes and protocols. D-CETI is based on Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer digital currency with no central authority, and Open Transactions, a system that simplifies the use of cryptography in financial transactions. The architecture of D-CETI is evaluated and compared with the architecture of several other carbon emissions trading platforms.

Date of Award	May 2014
Original language	American English
Supervisor	Davor Svetinovic (Supervisor)