What Route 9 is
R9 issues verified ex-post avoided-emission tonnes from sites where renewable generation displaces diesel-generated electricity. The output is a voluntary carbon market tonne, settled in stablecoins, with the full lineage from displaced diesel litres back to the PV and BESS receipts (ETTs) visible on-chain.
R9 is for sites that are off-grid (mines, remote installations, island utilities, defence outposts) or operating on a diesel-dominant private grid (industrial estates with their own gensets, hotels and resorts with on-site generation, construction microgrids). What R9 is NOT for: grid-tied systems where the displaced electricity is grid power (those route to R4 with its hourly-marginal-EF discipline); or renewable additions that don't displace anything (those route to R1 or R2 to monetise the attributes from the new generation).
The defining technical constraint is displacement, not addition. If a 1 MW diesel genset was running 5 GWh per year and a 1 MWp PV plus 1 MWh BESS is installed alongside it, the carbon claim is the diesel litres no longer burned because PV+BESS provided that energy instead. If the PV+BESS is added on top of the same diesel run-rate (perhaps to handle growth or peak periods), no displacement has occurred and R9 does not apply.
The math is intuitive to a CFO: litres avoided. The dossier walks back from each vintage tonne to the specific fuel-consumption records and the PV/BESS dispatch logs that document the displacement. Pricing reality for well-metered conservative R9 packets typically clears at $20-50 per tonne (illustrative, not guarantees), with stronger governance and data quality moving toward the upper band.
The two accounting paths
R9 supports two equivalent accounting paths, chosen per site based on data availability.
Path A (fuel-based). The cleanest math when bulk fuel logs and day-tank dips give accurate diesel consumption. Avoided tCO2 = (L_baseline − L_residual) × 2.68 kg/L ÷ 1000. The 2.68 kg per litre constant is the standard fuel-to-CO2 emission factor for diesel. Uncertainty (typically 5-10%) is applied for instrumentation noise; a permanence buffer (typically 5-10%) is held back against future reversal risk. The fuel-based path produces lower uncertainty than the kWh path when fuel logs are reliable.
Path B (kWh-based). Used when fuel data is incomplete but PV/BESS dispatch is well-instrumented. Avoided tCO2 = ΔkWh × EF_diesel_kWh. The diesel kWh emission factor is in the 0.67-0.80 t/MWh range, depending on the genset's specific fuel consumption (SFC) curve and the part-load profile. The path requires explicit treatment of round-trip efficiency on the BESS (typically 88-92%), curtailment data, and the no-storage baseline.
The chosen path, the EF source and version, and the uncertainty and buffer parameters are recorded on-chain at S02. If a provider later restates the EF (rare but possible for diesel kWh factors as engine technology evolves), a documented re-issuance SOP applies; settled batches are never repriced.
How R9 works
After the eligibility gate passes (off-grid or diesel-dominant confirmed, displacement vs addition resolved, rights to claim confirmed), the accounting plan at S02 locks the chosen path, the EF source and version, the uncertainty deduction, and the permanence buffer.
Measurement at S03 runs through two parallel streams. The renewable side connects SCADA, inverter, or revenue-grade meter data to the EDMA Attestor Registry: METER_OP signs the per-interval kWh and ETT mints automatically at the 10 kWh granularity to the project wallet, exactly like Routes 1 and 2. The diesel side registers fuel logs (bulk delivery records, day-tank dip records), runtime meters on the gensets, generator nameplates and SFC curves, and optionally fuel-flow meters. Calibration certificates for all instruments are registered; time-sync across the streams is enforced.
At S04, the One-Claim discipline applies. For pure off-grid sites with no overlapping attribute issuance, this stage typically registers as N/A. For sites that ever tie to a grid or that ever issued any REC, GO, or I-REC for the same renewable kWh, those overlapping attributes must be retired or immobilized in their source registry before R9 will queue any carbon. The Issue and Retire IDs are anchored on-chain.
At S05, the vintage batch dossier is assembled: the ETT receipts for the displacing renewable kWh, the PV/BESS dispatch records, round-trip efficiency, curtailment, the diesel logs and runtime, the EF snapshots, uncertainty and buffer parameters, and the EAC retirement IDs. An independent accredited verifier from the panel reviews and signs on-chain. Cadence is typically monthly or quarterly depending on the metering setup.
At S06, the CARBON_TONNE contract mints the vintage batch; the backing ETTs from the displacing renewable kWh are stamped consumed-to-carbon and rendered permanently non-transferable. Those ETTs cannot later be sold as energy attributes; the consumed-to-carbon stamp is permanent.
Sale and settlement at S07 follow the same pattern as other carbon routes: forward or spot sale, 4% total fee structure with 50% burn, stablecoin payout to the seller's Earnings Vault.
Path B (kWh-based): Avoided tCO2 = ΔkWh × EF_diesel_kWh (typically 0.67-0.80 t/MWh, SFC-dependent), with round-trip efficiency, curtailment, and the no-storage baseline documented
Diesel pack: fuel logs (bulk + day-tank), runtime meters, generator nameplates, SFC curves, optional fuel-flow meters; calibration certificates registered; time-sync across all instruments
Where R9 applies
R9 is built for the operating contexts where diesel is the default and a measured renewable displacement is in place. The largest scope contexts are:
Mining and quarry operations. Many remote mines run on diesel gensets at MW scale; PV plus BESS installations of MWp and MWh scale are increasingly common and produce material litre displacement.
Island utilities and island resorts. Small island states with no grid interconnection often run diesel base-load with renewable injection. The displacement story is clear: every kWh of solar that meets demand is a kWh of diesel that didn't burn.
Telecom BTS (base transceiver station) clusters. Off-grid or weak-grid telecom sites running diesel for backup or primary power; hybrid PV plus BESS deployments at the kW scale across hundreds or thousands of sites.
Construction and humanitarian microgrids. Temporary microgrids on construction sites or in humanitarian operations often run diesel; renewable additions with displacement intent are increasingly common.
Remote research and defence outposts. Scientific research stations, military forward operating bases, and similar remote sites with diesel-dominant electric supply.
What R9 is NOT for: grid-tied installations in any country with a developed grid (those route to R1 or R2 for attributes, or to R4 for additionality-grade carbon); residential rooftop solar (R1 territory); utility-scale solar in normal electricity markets (R1 or R2).
Stacking with other routes
R9 stacks cleanly with Route 3 (community pool participation), which uses separate pool assets and never touches the operator's own microgrid.
If a site later grid-ties any portion of its capacity, that portion can monetise attributes on Routes 1 or 2 separately from R9. The ETTs are split between the routes: some ETTs back R9 carbon (the off-grid displacement period); others back R1 or R2 attributes (the grid-tied period). The protocol enforces the separation at the ETT level.
If a grid-tied portion subsequently qualifies for R4 (additionality-grade energy-side carbon in a high-marginal-EF grid), those hours can route to R4 only after any overlapping R1 or R2 attributes are retired or immobilized first. The One-Claim Ledger reverts at the contract level if anyone tries to mint R4 carbon from the same kWh that already backed an R1 attribute.
Where it stands
R9 builds on the existing ETT infrastructure already shipped for Routes 1, 2, and 4. The R9-specific work is in three areas:
Diesel baseline pack schema. The on-chain evidence schema for fuel logs, runtime meters, SFC curves, and calibration certificates. The data sources are heterogeneous (different genset manufacturers expose different telemetry; manual fuel logs are still common), so the schema accommodates both automated and manual data with appropriate uncertainty deductions.
Microgrid MRV verifier panel. Independent accredited verifiers with the specific expertise to assess microgrid displacement claims (the engineering judgment around no-storage baselines, round-trip efficiency, and part-load SFC is different from grid-tied verification). The panel is built jurisdiction by jurisdiction.
Methodology version tracking. The protocol tracks the recognized fuel-to-CO2 methodology (the 2.68 kg per litre constant is the IPCC standard) and the diesel kWh emission factor sources used for Path B. Restatements follow the re-issuance SOP.
For the protocol-level architecture R9 depends on, see Proof-of-Verification, One-Claim Ledger, Attestor Registry, and the sibling complex route pages: R10 Renewable Thermal, R11 Methane Avoidance, and R12 Tech Removals.
