Core Concept
QET-RNG: Tokenized Renewable Natural Gas with Verified Carbon Intensity
A QET-RNG is how Greentruth makes the carbon-intensity story of a specific volume of renewable natural gas portable, machine-readable, and audit-defensible. This page explains what the token is, what it carries, what it does not do, and how it plugs into the regulatory and disclosure frameworks RNG buyers actually file against.
QET-RNG (Renewable Natural Gas Thermal Certificate). One MMBtu of RNG thermal energy with a verified carbon intensity in kgCO₂e/MMBtu, issued on the EarnDLT registry (on Hedera Hashgraph) under ISO 14064-3 reasonable assurance, and produced under EarnDLT's QET-RNG methodology v2.1.2. The token is a fuel-attribute certificate — not a carbon credit, not an offset — and does not transfer Scope 1 emissions between parties.
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See a QET-RNG with LCFS Attributes
Request a demo and we'll walk a QET-RNG through the EarnDLT registry — five-criterion verification, LCFS pathway flags, retirement, and the framework-aligned exports your reporting team will actually file.
What Is a QET-RNG?
A QET-RNG is a per-MMBtu renewable natural gas token that carries the verified emissions attributes of the RNG it represents and is anchored on-chain so its provenance survives an audit. The scope is well-to-pipeline-injection — production, processing, and any losses through to the injection point. Combustion is out of scope of the methodology; the buyer's downstream end-use accounting handles that separately.
Each certificate is single-mint enforced and retired irrevocably on-chain. That means a buyer who acquires it and retires it has anchored a specific verified MMBtu of RNG to a specific claim — and no other party can use that same MMBtu to support a different one.
Greentruth issues the token on top of EarnDLT's registry and tokenization infrastructure. It is delivered to the holder's wallet in both PDF and JSON form, locked until payment confirmation, and then portable for reporting, retirement, or transfer.
What the Token Carries: Biogenic Carve-Out and Verified Carbon Intensity
A QET-RNG carries the attributes a buyer's reporting and assurance teams need on the day they file a disclosure or submit a pathway report.
- Unit. One MMBtu of RNG thermal energy.
- Verified carbon intensity. Multi-pollutant CI in kgCO₂e/MMBtu, calculated using IPCC AR5 GWP100 factors (CH₄ = 28, N₂O = 265).
- Biogenic carve-out. Biogenic CO₂ is accounted separately from fossil emissions in line with the GHG Protocol biogenic guidance, so reporters can present a clean fossil-only fuel-attribute number where their framework requires it.
- Geography and pathway. Production facility, basin or feedstock category, the validated injection point, the customer's delivery point, and the pipeline connectivity between them — anchored to EarnDLT's 32,000-segment Lower-48 pipeline network model.
- MRV tier and methodology version. Where the CI sits in the methodology's data hierarchy (primary → secondary → industry-average) plus the exact methodology and R&D GREET 2025 version used.
- Verifier of record. The accredited third-party that signed off on the underlying data under ISO 14064-3 reasonable assurance.
- Pathway eligibility flags. Where applicable, eligibility tags for downstream pathway programs (California LCFS today via the QET-LCFS extension; RED III and FuelEU Maritime as the EU footprint extends).
The Five RNG Thermal Certificate Verification Criteria
Every certificate is validated against five criteria before it can be applied to a customer's energy attribute certificate or retired against a claim:
- Injection point identified. The physical point at which the RNG entered the natural gas system is documented and on-chain.
- Customer delivery point identified. The physical point at which the buyer takes delivery from the system is documented and on-chain.
- Pipeline connectivity confirmed. A valid physical path between injection and delivery exists across EarnDLT's pipeline network model.
- Volumetric equivalence established. The volume of RNG injected equals the volume claimed at delivery, on a mass-balance basis.
- Temporal matching confirmed. The injection and delivery are matched within the reporting period the token is being applied to.
If any of the five criteria fails, the certificate does not issue. The five-criterion check is the structural difference between a registry-grade thermal certificate and a self-declared RNG attestation.
How a QET-RNG Differs from a Generic RNG Attestation
The token is built to substantiate a specific verified MMBtu of RNG in machine-readable form. Other RNG attestations were built for other purposes — and the differences matter when an auditor or regulator asks where the number came from.
| Instrument | What it conveys | Verification standard | Chain-of-custody | Retirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QET-RNG | 1 MMBtu of RNG thermal energy, multi-pollutant CI in kgCO₂e/MMBtu, biogenic carve-out, pathway eligibility flags | ISO 14064-3 reasonable assurance per methodology v2.1.2 | Mass-balance with five-criterion validation, on-chain | Irrevocable on-chain |
| M-RETS-style RNG certificate | 1 MMBtu of RNG (attribute only) | Registry rules; no integrated ISO 14064-3 sign-off | Book-and-claim | Registry retirement |
| LCFS pathway report (alone) | A pathway CI score for a fuel volume | CARB pathway verification | Pathway-specific | N/A — pathway is an instrument-side construct, not a holdable certificate |
| Producer self-attestation (spreadsheet) | A producer's claim | Self-declared | Self-declared | N/A |
A registry-grade thermal certificate is portable. It does the work of a fuel-attribute claim, a CI-bearing instrument, and a machine-readable export into the buyer's disclosure stack — in a single token.
Regulatory Pathways: LCFS Today, RED III and FuelEU Maritime Ahead
The token is purpose-built to feed regulatory pathway submissions where chain-of-custody and CI provenance are scrutinized:
- California LCFS — the operative US pathway today. LCFS submissions run with the QET-LCFS extension methodology, which adds the pathway-specific elements (including CA-GREET 3.0 modeling where required) on top of the core methodology.
- Oregon Clean Fuels Program and Washington Clean Fuel Standard — analogous low-carbon fuel programs that draw on the same chain-of-custody integrity expectations.
- RED III (Directive (EU) 2023/2413) and FuelEU Maritime (Regulation (EU) 2023/1805) — forward-looking on the same QET-RNG foundation as Greentruth's EU coverage extends in 2026.
- EPA RFS — referenced as a principles framework for environmental attribute integrity; not implemented as a current extension.
How LCFS compliance works on Greentruth
For fleet, marine, and freight buyers
How the Token Supports SBTi, TCR, and CSRD Reporting
The same certificate can feed multiple framework exports without the reporter rebuilding the underlying data each time:
- SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard — mapped against the relevant Corporate Net-Zero Standard V1.3 criteria, including C11 biogenic exclusion, with the V2.0 transition (second consultation Nov 2025) tracked.
- The Climate Registry General Reporting Protocol — alignment is anchored to GRP §D-7 (fuel-attribute documentation), §D-15 (Steam and Heating eligibility), and §B-7 (biogenic emissions accounting).
- GHG Protocol — Scope 1 fuel substitution and Scope 3 Category 3 (Fuel- and Energy-Related Activities) accounting, with the explicit reminder that the token does not transfer Scope 1 emissions between parties.
- CSRD ESRS E1 and IFRS S2 — machine-readable exports for European and ISSB-aligned disclosure paths.
Frequently Asked Questions
A QET-RNG (Quantified Emissions Token — Renewable Natural Gas Thermal Certificate) is one MMBtu of RNG thermal energy with a verified carbon intensity in kgCO₂e/MMBtu, issued on the EarnDLT registry under ISO 14064-3 reasonable assurance.
Request a Demo
See a QET-RNG End-to-End in the Registry
Request a demo and we will walk a token through five-criterion verification, LCFS pathway flags, retirement, and the framework-aligned exports your reporting team will actually file.