The document describes the technical solution and architecture for a mobile application called LivingOffset that allows users to offset their carbon emissions from daily activities and purchases. The solution includes a mobile app that tracks user activities and purchases and calculates their carbon footprint. It allows users to offset emissions by purchasing carbon credits. The backend uses a layered architecture with services for calculating offsets, managing payments and cryptocurrency, and integrating with retailers and other partners. Security, privacy, and blockchain technology are key aspects of the technical implementation.
1. TECH PAPER
B I G C H A N G E S S TA R T W I T H S M A L L C H A N G E
2. LivingOffset Technology Stack
The LivingOffset product solution is focused on allowing individuals to offset their
day-to-day purchases and activities. This is achieved with the following technical
solution approach.
Mobile Application
Offsetting via the mobile application will be achieved in two ways:
By partnering up with retailers and having their product list carbon-foot print
mapped for users/consumers to offset against. By making a generic list of ac-
tivities and products available to the user, based on location, to offset against.
Total Grammes Total Cost
23.02Kg €1.97
Activity History
Takeaway Coffee 250g/€0.05
Commute by train 700g/€0.06
Mobile phone charging 71g/€0.05
Runners 13600g/€1.08
Sandwich (containing meat) 2810g/€0.11
Bottle of wine (European) 850g/€0.15
Commute by car 1800g/€0.15
Book (online) 2655.7g/€0.22
Hot showers (one week) 292g/€0.10
Offset Details
BRONZE
SILVER
GOLD
PLATINUM
€
1 - MOBILE
Download the app.
Buy carbon credit.
4 - MOBILE
Offset more to
reach weekly
target.
5 - SOCIAL
Share activity on
social media.
6 - STATUS
As people offset
more, they move up
the reward structure.
7 - REWARDS
Receive credit &
real-life rewards
for offsetting.
3 - MOBILE
Offset everyday
actions/purchases
2 - INSTORE
App reminds you to offset when near
a partner retailer or online.
It seems you are very
close to Café du
Journal, if you wish
you can custom
offset their products.
Would you like to
offset them now?
NO YES
3. Retailer/Corporate Checkout Widget/APP
Every corporate retailer nowadays has a sizeable on-line presence, and a high
percentage of those have their businesses running on large e-commerce platforms.
LivingOffset is also going to be present in this space, and this presence will form
a substantial percentage of overall sales (carbon offsetting). The solution to be
delivered is a Widget/API Integration with the e-commerce checkout page, which
will show on-screen the cost of offsetting basket purchases, allowing the customer
to flag that she/he is interested in offsetting as part of the checkout process.
However, in our Post ICO phase (see Roadmap in section 4.5) solutions will be
developed for our corporate and retail partners who wish to engage with Livin-
gOffset to offer to their end-customers the option of offsetting a given purchase
or product. Our partner-facing solutions are going to be:
Retailer and Corporate BackOffice
With this tool, our partners will keep track of all offset activity that has taken place
through stores, e-commerce, custom consumer reward programs, etc.
Checkout APP and Widget
The offsetting process will be largely transparent to the
end-user. Based on AI, LivingOffset quickly calculates the
carbon footprint of the purchase, and gives the consum-
er the option to offset.
In order to handle the reward management and token
coupon, a simple solution will be exposed so investors
and investor coin holders can interact with LivingOffset
directly.
A second feature incorporated into the app, is where corporates create close
relationships with their clients. Consumer rewards programs can be built using
this feature, allowing the business to collaborates with its customers in the fight
for climate change. In such scenarios, the app can be ‘white-labelled’, allowing
the corporate to ownership.
4. The Offset Engine
This engine will be responsible for:
Calculating carbon-footprint of tasks and activities
Allocating/Retiring carbon credit to a given offset for each action
Fully integrated with the blockchain technology where the distributed ledger is
responsible for keeping track of all carbon credit allocation and making sure all
transactions are transparent and open, so there is no carbon double spending.
Architecture
The overall technical architecture of LivingOffset is illustrated below.
A layered architecture is a traditional method of structuring the overall solutions. It
uses logical flows and paths to define where requests come from and which path
they will follow until getting fully processed and produce a response to be returned
to its original requestor.
As per the diagram above, our layered architecture intends to maintain all respon-
sibilities separate and hosted by individual services. This concept is imported from
micro-services architecture which promotes that responsibilities be delegated to
independent services which will interact when necessary. By doing so we keep our
architecture scalable and granular.
Front End Layer
Mobile
App
Offset
Engine
Data Sources
AltCoin FX
Treasury
Manager
Payment
Gateways
Escrow KYC/AML
Identity
Manager
Business Logic
Service
Back
Office
Checkout
API
Checkout
Widget
IR Crytpo
Exchange
Service Layer
Crypto Layer (L&C Coin)
Data Layer
Blockchain
Security
5. Vertically on the diagram we have Security and blockchain, which will be present
in all the horizontal layers, as these will heavily rely on blockchain as well as make
sure security features and measurements are implemented to keep data and users
safe. On the blockchain, different transactions and smart contracts calls are going
to be made from the different levels, respecting the privacy and anonymity of said
transactions. For instance, if it is a user related transaction it will be done straight
from the app to the blockchain as those need to be digitally signed and only the
user, with the app can do it.
Front End Layer;
Mobile App
Corporate and Retailer Back Office
Checkout API
Checkout Widget
IR Crypto Exchange.
The Service Layer handles the fundamental processing of the platform. Carbon
inventory is managed from source projects, including the algorithms needed to
process the fractionalisation mechanisms. Also, the overall internal hedging and
risk management is handled by our treasury module. Operational monitoring and
strict identity management processes are also part of this layer.
Below the Service Layer, we have a Crypto-dedicated layer, which interacts with
selected external payment providers and Escrow management of all FIAT/Crypto
accounts. Reward management and token coupon handling are part of this layer.
Security
Security is of paramount importance. This is a key and very important aspect to
LivingOffset, and from the beginning we’ve put great effort into making sure our
solution was based on a very robust security strategy. This was incorporated into
our development cycle from the very start. However, software security is a nev-
er-ending concern. Therefore, our efforts are not limited to what has been done.
We will constantly improve and enhance security, so it is always up to date and
able to deal with the latest threats and risks.
Data Security, Communication & Privacy
We will make certain that we hold the least amount of data possible, and that the
data we do hold is kept safe, out of harm and away from anyone trying to exploit
it. To ensure this, modern security features will be put in place and periodically
updated. All communication between the layers will be encrypted (SSL), as will
transactions and any data stored.
6. Certified Emissions Reductions projects from multiple certified
sources (such as the UN) are registered within the LivingOff-
set system portal. These projects are the ultimate source of our
LivingOffset carbon inventory. Projects may also be more “land-
use/land change” based or indeed “domestic”. The same level of
carbon certification applies to all projects on the LivingOffset platform. Once
registered on our portal, the portal automatically manages the underlying doc-
umentation and proof of certification. The portal enables LivingOffset opera-
tions to purchase carbon offset tonnage from the registered projects and it au-
tomatically handles the fractionalisation of the carbon purchases making them
available to the “front-end”.
Corporates are also registered in the back office. They are issued with secure
logins into the portal to enable them to fully manage their own co-sponsoring
activities with a full management information analytics platform that allows
them to extract further information on typical use and patterns that can assist
in maximising their own information management.
Retailers are also managed on the back office system.
With direct access to the portal, they can simply state
what products in their store are available to offset
against. This gives retailers full control of their interac-
tions with consumers in their store.
The precise carbon offset per consumer item is regis-
tered in the back office system using data feeds from
recognised data-providers who scientifically measure/
calculate these numbers. These numbers form the bed-
rock of all purchases made.
Within the “front end” all purchases of carbon
“fractions” takes place. The consumer has access to the
following features with the app.
If you happen to be in the neighbourhood of a registered retailer’s store, you
receive a push notification to invite you into that store to make a purchase and
to offset the carbon for that item.
Core Features
The platform incorporates the following key features which can be considered as
traditional “back office” and “front office” categories. Within the “back-office”:
It seems you are very
close to Café du
Journal, if you wish
you can custom
offset their products.
Would you like to
offset them now?
NO YES
7. Within the app you can manage your daily offsetting goals by manually select-
ing your lifestyle/living activities and offsetting all related carbon emissions.
There are weekly targets set for you to reach – as an individual or as part of a
“community”. The concept of community is a key feature of the app. Similar to
WhatsApp groups, you can set up a group of like-minded people to collectively
aim towards carbon offsetting goals.
You can earn extra credits on the system as you offset
more.
With corporate co-matching, every offsetting action is
matched or part-paid by a corporate sponsor, who may
also reward you with vouchers that can be used next
time you shop with them.
Online retailers will have the LivingOffset “Carbon
Widget” at the point of purchase.This widget sits on
the retailer’s checkout page on their e-commerce
platform. It will analyse the purchases in your basket.
It will prompt you to offset these purchases and will
handle all associated activities to ensure that your full
basket is offset, even allowing the retailer or a corpo-
rate to co-sponsor your offsetting.
BRONZE SILVER GOLD PLATINUM