Platform
GasTrace: Verified Pipeline Carbon Intensity from Wellhead to Burner Tip
GasTrace is Greentruth's patented pipeline carbon intensity tracing system. It paths real-world natural gas molecules through the actual physical network of pipelines — over 32,000 verified segments across the continental United States — and returns a fully verified, ISO-aligned carbon intensity figure for any point-to-point gas delivery on the continent.
For the thousands of companies that purchase natural gas and need verified Scope 3 Category 3 emissions data, GasTrace is available at no cost. Generate a verified, audit-ready Scope 3 Category 3 report for any physical location in the lower 48 United States — on demand, in minutes.
What Is GasTrace?
GasTrace is a blockchain-native, patented methodology for attributing verified carbon intensity (CI) to natural gas molecules as they travel through real-world pipeline infrastructure. Rather than applying national average emission factors or static proxy data, GasTrace traces the actual path a gas molecule travels — from its point of production, through every compressor station, gathering line, transmission segment, and distribution main — to the physical meter at your facility.
The result is a verified CI figure, expressed in kgCO₂e/MMBtu, that reflects the true upstream and midstream emissions profile of the gas your organization actually consumed — not a national average, not a proxy, and not an estimate.
GasTrace's methodology has been patented, and its network distance data has been independently verified in alignment with applicable ISO standards. Every CI calculation produced by GasTrace is immutably recorded on Hedera Hashgraph, generating a permanent, tamper-proof audit record.
How GasTrace Works: The Path-Based CI Methodology
GasTrace operationalizes pipeline CI attribution in four steps:
Identify the Receipt and Delivery Points
GasTrace begins with two physical locations: the point at which gas enters the pipeline network (the receipt location — typically a wellhead, processing plant, or interconnect) and the point at which it is delivered (the delivery location — your facility, a city gate, or a liquefaction terminal).
Path the Molecule Through the Real Network
Using GasTrace's proprietary routing algorithm, the system identifies the optimal real-world pipeline path connecting those two points across the continental U.S. network. The network dataset includes:
- 32,000+ unique pipeline segments
- GIS-verified start and end coordinates for each segment
- Curvature data for segments that route around geographic or physical obstacles
- ISO-verified total network distance
No synthetic or modeled pipeline topology is used. GasTrace routes molecules through the same infrastructure they physically traverse.Calculate Carbon Intensity Across the Path
For each segment in the path, GasTrace applies a Segment Allocation Factor (SAF) based on the contracted throughput volume relative to the segment's total capacity, then sums the allocated emissions — combustion, fugitive, and vented — across all segments. This produces:
- Wellhead-to-delivery CI (kgCO₂e/MMBtu)
- Segment-level emission attribution
- Methane intensity component aligned to IPCC AR5 GWP factors (100-year and 20-year)
The final CI figure covers the full upstream and midstream boundary: extraction, gathering, processing, compression, transmission, and (where applicable) distribution and liquefaction.Record and Export
The verified CI calculation is recorded on-chain via EarnDLT's Hedera Hashgraph registry, generating a permanent, audit-ready record. The result is exportable in structured formats aligned to:
- GHG Protocol Scope 3 Category 3 (fuel- and energy-related activities)
- ESRS E1 Scope 3 Category 1 (purchased goods) disclosures under CSRD
- SB 253 / SB 261 California climate disclosure requirements
- EU Methane Regulation Article 27 upstream traceability documentation
- CBAM embedded emissions for natural gas import declarations
The Continental U.S. Pipeline Network
| Network Parameter | Verified Figure |
|---|---|
| Total pipeline segments | 32,000+ |
| Network geometry | GIS coordinate pairs (start/end) with curvature data |
| Distance verification standard | ISO-aligned independent verification |
| Geographic coverage | Continental U.S. (lower 48 states) |
| Data currency | Continuously maintained against PHMSA infrastructure records |
This network is the foundation that makes GasTrace's CI calculations defensible to auditors, regulators, and competent authorities — not because of methodology alone, but because the underlying physical data has been independently verified and patented as the basis for molecule-level CI attribution.
For Industrial Gas Buyers: Scope 3 Category 3 Reporting, Verified
Any company that purchases natural gas — manufacturers, data centers, food and beverage processors, chemical facilities, universities, hospitals, or commercial real estate operators — faces growing Scope 3 Category 3 reporting obligations under CSRD/ESRS, SB 253, and voluntary frameworks including CDP and the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
GasTrace solves the single largest data gap in Scope 3 Category 3 reporting: the absence of location-specific, supply-chain-verified CI data for purchased gas.
Access is free. Any company can:
1. Enter their physical delivery location(s)
2. Specify their gas supply contract or receipt point
3. Receive a verified Scope 3 Category 3 CI figure, traceable to the actual pipeline path and upstream emission profile
4. Export an audit-ready report formatted for their disclosure framework
Thousands of companies across the continent — utilities, industrials, manufacturers, and commercial operators — can generate verified Scope 3 Category 3 reports on demand, customized to each of their physical locations, at no cost.
GasTrace's path-traced CI baseline draws on PHMSA-aligned segment emission factors and contracted throughput data. For buyers who want to go further — replacing that baseline with directly measured, supplier-verified data from their own contracted gas supply — GasTrace integrates with Greentruth's Quantified Emissions Token (QET) marketplace. See the section below.
Upgrade Your Scope 3 with QETs: Measured Data from Your Actual Supplier
GasTrace's path-based CI methodology produces a verified, defensible Scope 3 Category 3 figure for any buyer — using the best available emission factors applied to the real pipeline path. But the GHG Protocol and other major reporting frameworks explicitly recognize a hierarchy of data quality: measured, supplier-specific data is higher quality than modeled or average-factor data.
Greentruth's Quantified Emissions Token (QET) system enables exactly that upgrade — and GasTrace is the delivery mechanism.
What Is a QET?
A Quantified Emissions Token is a blockchain-native, machine-readable data container that carries directly measured, independently verified emissions data from a specific upstream natural gas producer. Each QET records:
- Methane intensity (kg CH₄/MMBtu), directly measured at the wellhead or gathering system
- Total carbon intensity (kgCO₂e/MMBtu) with full GWP attribution
- Upstream MRV framework used (OGMP 2.0, MiQ, NGSI, ISO 14067, or equivalent)
- Third-party verifier identity (ISO 14065-accredited)
- Hedera Hashgraph token ID — a permanent, immutable on-chain record
The QET is not a certificate of offset or a credit. It is the verified emissions data itself, in a standardized, machine-readable form that any reporting system — or AI agent — can ingest directly.
The Payne Institute Independent Study
The Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines conducted an independent study of the Quantified Emissions Token architecture. Their analysis affirmed the QET's design as a technically sound mechanism for conveying verified upstream emissions data through the natural gas supply chain to downstream buyers and reporting frameworks.
Payne Institute QET study
How QET Procurement Works Within GasTrace
When a buyer identifies their contracted gas supplier on GasTrace, they can browse available QETs issued by that supplier and procure the verified upstream data directly — supply-chain participant to supply-chain participant, with no intermediary. Once procured, the QET's measured CI data replaces or supplements the GasTrace path-traced baseline for that contracted volume, producing a Scope 3 Category 3 figure that is:
- Supplier-specific drawn from the actual producer delivering under your contract
- Directly measured not modeled, not averaged, not estimated
- Independently verified ttested by an ISO 14065-accredited third party
- GHGp-aligned satisfying the Protocol's preference for higher-quality supplier-specific data in Category 3 calculations
- EU Methane Regulation-compatible constituting MRV equivalence evidence for the upstream component of an LNG import supply chain
Benefits for Buyers
Procuring QETs through GasTrace converts your Scope 3 Category 3 disclosure from a modeled estimate to a supply-chain-verified, audit-ready measurement — the strongest defensible position available under current reporting frameworks. As mandatory disclosure regimes tighten under CSRD, SB 253, and CDP's scoring methodology, the quality distinction between modeled and measured data will increasingly matter for external assurance, regulatory scrutiny, and investor review.
Benefits for Producers
For upstream producers, QET issuance on GasTrace creates a direct commercial return on the MRV investment they have already made. Rather than absorbing measurement and verification costs as a regulatory compliance expense, producers can monetize verified emissions data as a differentiated commodity — procured directly by the downstream companies that need it, at a value that reflects the quality premium of lower methane intensity production.
For Upstream Producers: Convert MRV Investment Into a Market Asset
Local Distribution Companies and utilities managing gas supply across multiple receipt points, production basins, and customer classes face particular complexity in Scope 3 reporting: the CI of delivered gas varies by path, source, and time period.
GasTrace provides:
- Portfolio-level weighted average CI across all supply contracts and delivery points
- Customer-level attribution — CI figures disaggregated by customer location for downstream disclosure support
- ESRS E1 and SB 253-formatted exports for enterprise disclosure workflows
- Audit-ready blockchain records for limited assurance engagements under CSRD
For Upstream Producers: Convert MRV Investment Into a Market Asset
Natural gas producers who have invested in upstream MRV programs — OGMP 2.0, MiQ, NGSI, ISO 14067, or direct measurement programs — can connect their verified wellhead CI data to GasTrace's pipeline network to produce a complete, path-traced CI figure from wellhead to any downstream delivery point.
This verified CI data is then issued as a Quantified Emissions Token (QET) on Greentruth's registry and listed on GasTrace, where downstream buyers — industrial companies, utilities, LDCs, and LNG importers — can procure it directly as part of their Scope 3 Category 3 supply chain data acquisition. The QET transforms a static measurement program into a continuously monetizable asset: one verified token serves every downstream buyer that contracts for that gas, eliminating per-buyer bespoke audit documentation.
Producer benefits on GasTrace:
- Direct monetization of upstream MRV investment — verified data becomes a revenue stream, not just a compliance cost
- Supply-chain-direct procurement — buyers acquire your measured CI data through GasTrace, associated to their specific contracted volumes
- Real-time CI-adjusted pricing that rewards lower methane intensity production
- Forward market development — verified CI enables structured premium pricing aligned to methane intensity performance
- EU market access — wellhead-to-liquefaction CI tracing satisfies EU Methane Regulation Article 27 MRV equivalence requirements for U.S. LNG exporters
For LNG Exporters: Wellhead-to-Liquefaction Traceability
For U.S. LNG producers and exporters subject to Regulation (EU) 2024/1787 (EU Methane Regulation), GasTrace provides a complete upstream CI trace from the wellhead to the liquefaction facility gate — covering gathering, processing, transmission, and intrastate pipeline segments to the export terminal.
This well-to-ship-loading CI figure, combined with the upstream production MI from a recognized MRV program, constitutes the full upstream emissions provenance that EU importers require to demonstrate Article 27 MRV equivalence. GasTrace does not replace third-party verification — it connects verified upstream data to the physical pipeline network to produce a traceable, delivery-adjusted CI.
Platform Features
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Patented path-routing algorithm | Proprietary routing of gas molecules through real-world pipeline topology; patent-protected |
| 32,000+ verified network segments | GIS-coordinate and curvature data; independently verified network distances under ISO standards |
| Free Scope 3 Category 3 reports | Any industrial gas buyer can generate verified, location-specific Scope 3 reports at no cost |
| QET procurement from your supplier | Buyers can procure Quantified Emissions Tokens directly from their contracted producers, upgrading Scope 3 baseline data to directly measured, supplier-specific values |
| On-demand, self-serve access | Report generation available without human intervention; results delivered in minutes |
| Immutable on-chain audit record | Every CI calculation permanently recorded on Hedera Hashgraph; tamper-proof post-calculation |
| Multi-framework export | Pre-built exports for GHG Protocol, ESRS E1, SB 253, CDP, EU Methane Regulation, CBAM |
| API-first architecture | All tracing, calculation, and reporting functions accessible programmatically via REST API |
| Agentic AI compatibility | All tracing, calculation, and reporting functions accessible programmatically via REST API |
Frequently Asked Questions
A Quantified Emissions Token is a blockchain-native, machine-readable data container carrying the directly measured and independently verified upstream emissions data from a specific natural gas producer. When procured through GasTrace, a QET replaces or supplements the path-traced CI baseline with supplier-specific, directly measured data — the highest data quality tier recognized by the GHG Protocol for Scope 3 Category 3. The Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines independently studied the QET architecture and affirmed it as a technically sound mechanism for conveying verified upstream emissions data through the natural gas supply chain to downstream buyers and reporting frameworks.
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