CarbonLink

Demo

About

The problem it solves **Overview** CarbonLink is an AI-powered platform designed to tokenize carbon credits. It leverages ElizaOS and Chainlink data from environmental IoT sensors to mint carbon credits onchain in real time. Instead of relying solely on static registry records, CarbonLink verifies actual carbon sequestration or emissions reductions—such as from reforestation or clean energy projects—by analyzing up-to-date sensor data. This approach increases transparency, trust, and automation in the voluntary carbon market. Technology Stack Smart Contracts: Solidity (Upgradeable contracts using OpenZeppelin) Chainlink Functions (for off-chain data integration) Ethereum Sepolia Testnet (deployment and testing) Backend: Node.js (for scripting, API integrations, and utility functions) Express.js (optional, for backend API endpoints if needed) Frontend: React (user interface) Ethers.js (blockchain interaction) Vercel (deployment and hosting) Oracles & Data: Chainlink Functions (fetches and verifies environmental data) IoT Sensor Networks (planned integration with sources like PlanetLab, Copernicus, and Boomitra) Architecture 1. Upgradeable Smart Contract System Factory Contract: Deploys and registers new Project contracts for each forestation or clean energy project. Project Proxy Contracts: Each project has its own upgradeable proxy contract, allowing for future improvements and bug fixes. Project Implementation Contract: Handles project-specific logic, including Chainlink Functions requests, carbon data processing, token minting, and buffer pool management. 2. Chainlink Functions Integration Each Project contract can request real-time carbon data via Chainlink Functions, which retrieves and processes IoT sensor/API data off-chain and delivers it on-chain for verification and tokenization. 3. Buffer Pool Mechanism To address non-permanence risk, a portion of minted credits (e.g., 10%) is automatically allocated to a buffer pool controlled by the contract, providing insurance against future carbon reversal events. 4. Frontend Application Users can connect their wallet, register projects, view project data, mint eligible carbon credits, and retire or sell credits via a React-based web interface. **Future Directions:** Robust Land Owner Authentication: Integrate with government or third-party registries for on-chain proof of land ownership. Enhanced Non-Permanence Risk Management: Develop advanced insurance, slashing, or staking mechanisms to further protect against carbon reversals. Automated Credit Consumption: Enable companies to retire credits directly on-chain as proof of emissions offset, with full audit trails. Expanded Data Sources: Streamline integration with additional IoT networks and satellite data providers for broader coverage and higher data reliability.

How it's made

Challenges we ran into **API Data Integration:** Integrating with environmental data APIs (such as PlanetLab and Copernicus) was challenging due to the complexity of their documentation, authentication requirements, and the need to translate raw sensor data into actionable carbon metrics. This slowed down the development of the real-time verification pipeline. **Time Constraints:** Some advanced features were unfeasible to implement within the 1-month hackathon window, including: Land Owner Authentication: Verifying true land ownership for forestation projects requires legal and technical infrastructure, which is planned for future releases. **Advanced Non-Permanence Risk System:** While a basic buffer pool was implemented, a full insurance or slashing mechanism for non-permanence risk was too complex for the MVP timeframe. **On-chain Consumption of Credits:** Allowing companies to directly consume credits for emissions reporting and compliance is a major feature that will be prioritized in future iterations.