JP7541769B2 - Information processing system, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program.

Estimation of carbon dioxide emissions has been carried out (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2022-091900 A

It is time-consuming to register the data required to calculate emissions into the system.

The present invention was made in light of this background, and aims to make it possible to easily input the data required to calculate greenhouse gas emissions.

The main invention of the present invention for solving the above problem is an information processing system, comprising: an emission coefficient storage unit that stores an emission coefficient for calculating greenhouse gas emissions related to a type of activity in association with the type of activity; an activity amount input unit that accepts input of input data including an activity amount related to the activity; an allocation information storage unit that stores a plurality of types and an allocation ratio corresponding to each of the types in association with a condition for the input data; an allocation processing unit that, when the input data satisfies the condition, allocates the activity amount according to the allocation ratio corresponding to the condition to calculate the activity amount related to each of the plurality of types corresponding to the condition; an emission coefficient acquisition unit that reads out from the emission coefficient storage unit the emission coefficient corresponding to the type of activity related to the activity amount; and an emission calculation unit that calculates the emission amount based on the read emission coefficient and the activity amount.

Other problems and solutions disclosed in this application will be made clear in the description of the embodiments of the invention and the drawings.

According to the present invention, the data required to calculate greenhouse gas emissions can be easily input.

1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an emission management system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of a management server 2. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the software configuration of a management server 2. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the management server 2.

<System Overview>
An emission management system according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The emission management system of this embodiment is intended to manage greenhouse gas emissions from emitters such as companies. The emission management system of this embodiment accepts input of the activity amount of the emitter or other emitters located upstream or downstream in the emitter's supply chain, and calculates emissions by multiplying this by an emission coefficient. The emission management system of this embodiment manages which emission coefficient should be used for which activity amount, making it possible to calculate emissions simply by inputting the activity amount.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an emissions management system according to this embodiment. The emissions management system according to this embodiment includes a management server 2. The management server 2 is communicatively connected to a user terminal 1 via a communication network 3. The communication network 3 is, for example, the Internet, and is constructed using a public telephone line network, a mobile phone line network, a wireless communication path, Ethernet (registered trademark), or the like.

The user terminal 1 is a computer operated by a user of a waste-generating company or other such entity. The user terminal 1 can be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a personal computer. The user can use the user terminal 1 to access the management server 2 and calculate the amount of waste emissions.

The management server 2 is a computer that calculates and manages emissions. The management server 2 may be a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or a personal computer, or may be logically realized by cloud computing.

<Management Server>
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the management server 2. Note that the illustrated configuration is an example, and other configurations may be used. The management server 2 includes a CPU 201, a memory 202, a storage device 203, a communication interface 204, an input device 205, and an output device 206. The storage device 203 is, for example, a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, or a flash memory that stores various data and programs. The communication interface 204 is an interface for connecting to the communication network 3, and is, for example, an adapter for connecting to Ethernet (registered trademark), a modem for connecting to a public telephone line network, a wireless communication device for wireless communication, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector or an RS232C connector for serial communication, etc. The input device 205 is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a button, a microphone, etc. that input data. The output device 206 is, for example, a display, a printer, a speaker, etc. that output data. Each functional unit of the management server 2 described below is realized by the CPU 201 reading a program stored in the storage device 203 into the memory 202 and executing it, and each storage unit of the management server 2 is realized as part of the storage area provided by the memory 202 and the storage device 203.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the management server 2. The management server 2 includes an emission coefficient memory unit 231, a classification memory unit 232, a conversion coefficient memory unit 233, an emission amount memory unit 234, an apportionment information memory unit 235, an activity amount input unit 211, an emission coefficient acquisition unit 212, an emission coefficient input unit 213, an emission amount calculation unit 214, a compilation unit 215, an output unit 216, and an apportionment processing unit 217.

The emission coefficient memory unit 231 stores information including emission coefficients for calculating greenhouse gas emissions (hereinafter referred to as emission coefficient information). The emission coefficients may be primary data (data collected by the emitter itself, obtained from direct measurement, or obtained from calculations based on direct measurement in the first information source) or secondary data (data other than primary data, for example, data standardized (statistically processed) from the emissions of multiple companies that provide the same type of product).

The emission coefficient memory unit 231 can store emissions in association with the type of activity. The emission coefficient memory unit 232 can store the type of activity, the scope of the activity, and the emission coefficient in association with each other. The emission coefficient memory unit 232 can store the type of activity, the scope of the activity, the category of the activity, and the emission coefficient in association with each other. Note that the scope and category of the activity are assumed to be the scope and category of the GHG Protocol. Also, the category may be omitted.

In this embodiment, the emission coefficient storage unit 231 and the classification storage unit 232 store the type of activity, scope, category, and emission amount in association with each other. The emission coefficient information stored in the emission coefficient storage unit 231 includes a scope (and a category, if any) to which the type of activity indicated by the type identification information of the emission entity indicated by the company ID corresponds, in association with the company ID and type identification information. In addition, the classification storage unit 232 stores information (hereinafter referred to as classification information) related to the classification (scope and category) of the activity, and the classification information includes a scope and a category in association with the company ID and type identification information.

The type-specific information can take any form as long as it is information for identifying the type of activity. For example, if an ID (type ID) that uniquely identifies the type of activity is set in the data input to the management server 2 (hereinafter referred to as import data), the type ID can be used as the type-specific information. Also, information including the type of import data and conditions for the values of items included in the import data can be used as the type-specific information. For example, if the import data is financial accounting data, information specifying "financial accounting data" and the condition that the "account item" is "travel expenses" and the summary includes "taxi" can be used as the type-specific information. Also, a function that inputs import data and outputs the type can be set as the type-specific information.

The conversion coefficient storage unit 233 stores information (hereinafter referred to as conversion coefficient information) including coefficients (conversion coefficients) for unit conversion. When the unit (first unit) expressing the amount of activity set in the import data is different from the unit (second unit) assumed by the emission coefficient, the conversion coefficient can be used to convert the unit of the amount of activity. For example, when the amount of activity related to fuel is expressed in liters (l) and the emission coefficient is expressed in the amount of CO2 per kilogram (tCO2/kg), the conversion coefficient of weight per liter (kg/l) is used to convert the amount of activity into a value expressed in kilograms (kg), and then the amount of greenhouse gas (CO2 in this example) emission (tCO2) can be calculated by multiplying it by the emission coefficient. The conversion coefficient information can include a conversion coefficient in association with the company ID and type-specific information. The conversion coefficient information may also include information indicating the unit after conversion.

The emission amount memory unit 234 stores the calculated greenhouse gas emission amount. The emission amount memory unit 234 can store the company ID, information specifying the time when the activity was performed (time information), scope, category, and emission amount in association with each other. The time information can be set to any period such as fiscal year, year, month, date, date and time range, for example. The scope and category can be the scope and category registered in the classification memory unit 232 described above.

The allocation information storage unit 235 stores information (allocation information) necessary for apportioning the input activity amount. The allocation information includes a company ID, type-specific information, and information (allocation rate information) necessary for apportioning the activity amount matching the type-specific information to multiple types of activity amounts. The allocation rate information may include multiple pairs of activity types and allocation rates for the types. The activity amount for the corresponding type can be calculated by multiplying the input activity amount by the allocation rate. In addition, when multiple types correspond to one import data, pairs of types and allocation rates are registered in multiple allocation information. For example, when an invoice that combines the baggage fee and delivery fee is provided from a logistics company as the import data of the activity amount, the types of category 1 and category 4 of scope 3 and, for example, 85% for category 1 (purchased products) and 15% for category 4 (transportation, delivery (upstream)) can be set in the allocation information. In addition, when storage in a warehouse is performed during delivery, and billing data including storage fees at the warehouse is provided as import data, the type of delivery and warehouse use of category 4, the distribution allocation rate (e.g., 70%), and the warehouse allocation rate (e.g., 30%) can be included in the allocation information. In addition, for example, when the import data is financial accounting data, the type specification information can include information specifying "financial accounting data" and the condition that the "account item" is "travel expenses" and the summary is blank. In such a case, by setting the ratio of taxi use, train use, and airplane use as the distribution rate within the scope of travel expenses, the travel expenses value for which no summary is set can be obtained as the activity amount related to multiple transportation means. In addition, a function that inputs import data and outputs the type can be set as the type specification information. Note that these examples are merely examples, and any pattern can be set.

The activity amount input unit 211 accepts the input of the activity amount. The activity amount is, for example, the number of products produced (pieces), the number of products purchased (pieces), the weight x distance transported by logistics (ton-kilometers), the amount of fuel consumed (liters), and the amount of money (yen). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the activity amount input unit 211 receives import data from the user terminal 1. The import data can be, for example, data exported from an ERP system or the like (export data) or data converted from the export data. The import data can be, for example, CSV data, JSON data, or XML data. For example, in CSV data, it is known which item is which type of data, and the type of activity can be identified by what value is entered in which item of the CSV data in the type identification information. In addition, in JSON data, XML data, and the like, the type of item of the set data may be tagged or set in the attribute.

The emission coefficient acquisition unit 212 acquires an emission coefficient related to the type of activity. The emission coefficient acquisition unit 212 can read out an emission coefficient corresponding to the company ID and type-specific information from the emission coefficient storage unit 231. When the emission coefficient is managed by an external system, the emission coefficient acquisition unit 212 may access the external system to acquire the emission coefficient.

The emission coefficient input unit 213 accepts the input of an emission coefficient. The emission coefficient input unit 213 identifies a company ID indicating the emission entity to which the user belongs (for example, it can accept the input of a company ID. In addition, the management server 2 has a user information storage unit that stores user information related to the user, and the company ID can be set in the user information and acquired from the user information storage unit), accepts input of type-specific information and an emission coefficient from the user, and registers the company ID, type-specific information, and emission coefficient in the emission coefficient storage unit 231. If an emission coefficient corresponding to the type of activity amount related to the import data is not stored in the emission coefficient storage unit 231, the emission coefficient input unit 213 can, for example, notify the user terminal 1 of that fact and accept the emission coefficient from the user terminal 1.

The emission calculation unit 234 calculates the emission amount based on the emission coefficient and the amount of activity. The emission calculation unit 234 can calculate the emission amount for each record (or group of records) included in the import data. The emission calculation unit 234 can search the emission coefficient storage unit 231 for emission coefficient information in which the value of an item included in the record corresponds to the type-specific information (for example, the value of the type-specific information is set as the value of the item, or the value of one or more items of the record meets the condition specified in the type-specific information), and calculate the emission amount based on the searched emission coefficient and amount of activity.

The allocation processing unit 217 can allocate the activity amount as necessary. When the record of the imported data matches type-specific information included in the allocation information, the allocation processing unit 217 can calculate the emission amount (estimated value) for each type by multiplying each type included in the allocation rate information of the allocation information by the corresponding allocation rate. The emission amount calculation unit 234 can search the emission coefficient for each type allocated by the allocation processing unit 217 from the emission coefficient storage unit 231, and multiply the allocated activity amount by the searched emission coefficient to calculate the emission amount for that type.

When the units in which the activity amount is expressed match the units assumed by the emission coefficient (tCO2/unit), the emission calculation unit 234 can calculate the emission amount by multiplying the activity amount by the emission coefficient.

If the units do not match, the emission calculation unit 234 can read out a conversion factor corresponding to the type of activity (and the emission subject) received from the conversion factor storage unit 233 based on the conversion factor, convert the first activity amount expressed in the first unit to the second activity amount expressed in the second unit based on the read conversion factor, and calculate the emission amount based on the emission factor and the second activity amount. For example, the emission calculation unit 234 can search the conversion factor storage unit 233 for conversion factor information including type-specific information corresponding to the company ID and the record of the imported data, and if the searched conversion factor information is registered in the conversion factor storage unit 233, it can determine that the units do not match and multiply the value obtained by multiplying the activity amount included in the imported data by the conversion factor by the emission factor. Note that if multiple conversion factors corresponding to the company ID and type-specific information are registered, it may be configured to multiply all of the corresponding multiple conversion factors.

The emission calculation unit 234 can register the calculated emission amount in the emission storage unit 234. The emission calculation unit 234 can register the calculated emission amount in the emission storage unit 234 by associating the company ID, time information such as the current date and time, the scope and category of the calculated emission amount (the scope and category corresponding to the company ID and type-specific information used when calculating the emission amount can be obtained from the classification storage unit 232), and the calculated emission amount.

The aggregation unit 215 aggregates the emissions. The aggregation unit 215 can aggregate the emissions calculated by the emission amount calculation unit 214 by scope. The aggregation unit 215 can aggregate the emissions calculated by the emission amount calculation unit 214 by category. The scope and category can be read out from the distribution memory 232, which correspond to the company ID and type-specific information.

<Operation>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the management server 2.

The management server 2 receives import data from the outside (S301). For example, it can accept uploads of CSV data from the user terminal 1, receive JSON data, and receive data such as CSV, JSON, and XML from other systems. For each record included in the import data, when the management server 2 matches the allocation information stored in the allocation information storage unit 235 (S302: YES), it allocates the activity amount included in the record according to the allocation ratio of the allocation rate information (S303), obtains the emission coefficient corresponding to the company ID and the type of allocation rate information from the emission coefficient storage unit 231 (S304), and searches for conversion coefficient information corresponding to the company ID and the type of allocation rate information from the conversion coefficient storage unit 233 (S305).

On the other hand, if the record does not match the apportionment information (S302: NO), the management server 2 reads emission coefficient information that corresponds to the company ID and whose item values included in the record correspond to the type-specific information from the emission coefficient storage unit 231 (S302), and searches for conversion coefficient information that corresponds to the company ID and whose item values included in the record correspond to the type-specific information from the conversion coefficient storage unit 233 (S303).

If the management server 2 is able to search for conversion factor information (S304: YES), it multiplies the amount of activity included in the record by the conversion factor and the emission factor to calculate the amount of emissions (S305); if the management server 2 is unable to search for conversion factor information (S304: NO), it multiplies the amount of activity included in the record by the emission factor to calculate the amount of emissions (S306), and registers the calculated amount of emissions in the emission memory unit 234 (S307).

If the management server 2 is able to find the conversion coefficients (S308: YES), it multiplies the activity amount of the record by all the conversion coefficients it found and the emission coefficient to calculate the emission amount (S309). If the management server 2 is unable to find the conversion coefficients (S308: NO), it multiplies the activity amount of the record by the emission coefficient to calculate the emission amount (S310).

The management server 2 registers the emission amount in the emission amount memory unit 234 (S311) and repeats the above loop.

After processing the above loop, the management server 2 tallies and outputs the emissions registered in the emission storage unit 234 (S307). The management server 2 can search the emission amounts calculated within a specified period, such as a year, quarter, month, week, or day, from the emission storage unit 234 and tallies the emissions. The management server 2 can also obtain from the classification storage unit 232 the scope and category that match the company ID and type-specific information related to the calculated emission amount, and can tallie and output the emissions for each obtained scope and/or category.

In this way, emissions can be calculated by inputting activity data from outside all at once.

Although the present embodiment has been described above, the above embodiment is intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention and is not intended to limit the interpretation of the present invention. The present invention may be modified or improved without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and equivalents thereof are also included in the present invention.

<Disclosures>
The present disclosure also includes the following configurations.
[Item 1]
an emission coefficient storage unit that stores a type of activity and an emission coefficient for calculating a greenhouse gas emission amount related to the activity in association with each other;
an activity amount input unit that receives input data including an activity amount related to the activity;
an apportionment information storage unit that stores a plurality of the types and apportionment ratios corresponding to each of the types in association with conditions for the input data;
an apportionment processing unit that, when the input data satisfies the condition, apportions the amount of activity according to the apportionment ratio corresponding to the condition to calculate the amount of activity related to each of the plurality of types corresponding to the condition;
an emission coefficient acquisition unit that reads out the emission coefficient corresponding to the type of activity related to the amount of activity from the emission coefficient storage unit;
an emission calculation unit that calculates the emission based on the read emission coefficient and the activity amount;
An information processing system comprising:
[Item 2]
Item 1 is an information processing system according to the present invention,
The emission coefficient storage unit stores the type, the scope of the activity, and the emission coefficient in association with each other,
a counting unit that counts the emissions calculated by the emission calculation unit for each scope;
An information processing system comprising:
[Item 3]
Item 1 is an information processing system according to the present invention,
the emission coefficient storage unit stores the type, the scope of the activity, the category of the activity, and the emission coefficient in association with each other;
a counting unit that counts the emissions calculated by the emission calculation unit for each category;
An information processing system comprising:
[Item 4]
Item 1 is an information processing system according to the present invention,
the activity amount received by the activity amount input unit is expressed in a first unit,
a conversion coefficient storage unit that stores a conversion coefficient for converting a value in the first unit into a value in a second unit in association with the type;
the emission calculation unit reads out the conversion coefficient corresponding to the type related to the received activity from the conversion coefficient storage unit based on the conversion coefficient, converts the first amount of activity expressed in the first unit into a second amount of activity expressed in the second unit based on the read conversion coefficient, and calculates the emission amount based on the emission coefficient and the second amount of activity;
An information processing system comprising:
[Item 5]
Item 1 is an information processing system according to the present invention,
an emission coefficient input unit that receives an input of the emission coefficient and registers the emission coefficient in the emission coefficient storage unit when the emission coefficient corresponding to the type of the activity related to the amount of activity is not registered in the emission coefficient storage unit;
An information processing system comprising:
[Item 6]
storing the type of activity and an emission coefficient for calculating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions related to the activity in an emission coefficient storage unit in association with each other;
Receiving input data including an activity amount related to the activity;
storing the types and the apportionment ratios corresponding to each of the types in an apportionment information storage unit in association with conditions for the input data;
When the input data satisfies the condition, the activity amount is proportionally divided according to the proportional division ratio corresponding to the condition to calculate the activity amount for each of the plurality of types corresponding to the condition;
Reading out the emission coefficient corresponding to the type of activity related to the amount of activity from the emission coefficient storage unit;
Calculating the emission amount based on the read emission coefficient and the activity amount;
An information processing method characterized by being executed by a computer.
[Item 7]
storing the type of activity and an emission coefficient for calculating the amount of greenhouse gas emissions related to the activity in an emission coefficient storage unit in association with each other;
Receiving input data including an activity amount related to the activity;
storing the types and the apportionment ratios corresponding to each of the types in an apportionment information storage unit in association with conditions for the input data;
When the input data satisfies the condition, the activity amount is proportionally divided according to the proportional division ratio corresponding to the condition to calculate the activity amount for each of the plurality of types corresponding to the condition;
Reading out the emission coefficient corresponding to the type of activity related to the amount of activity from the emission coefficient storage unit;
Calculating the emission amount based on the read emission coefficient and the activity amount;
A program for causing a computer to execute the following.

1 User terminal 2 Management server

Claims (3)

an emission coefficient storage unit that stores a plurality of classifications indicating at least one of a scope and a category of greenhouse gas emissions and an emission coefficient for calculating the emissions in association with each other ;
An activity amount input unit that accepts input data including an activity amount related to an activity;
an apportionment information storage unit that stores apportionment ratios corresponding to each of the plurality of classifications in association with conditions for the input data;
an apportionment processing unit that, when the input data satisfies the condition, apportions the amount of activity according to the apportionment ratio corresponding to the condition to calculate the amount of activity related to each of the plurality of categories;
an emission calculation unit that calculates the emission amount corresponding to each of the plurality of classifications based on the emission coefficient corresponding to the classification and the proportionally divided activity amount;
An information processing system comprising: a step of storing, in an emission coefficient storage unit, a plurality of classifications indicating at least one of a scope and a category related to greenhouse gas emissions and an emission coefficient for calculating the emission amount in association with each other;
Receiving input data including an activity amount related to the activity;
storing, in an allocation information storage unit, an allocation ratio corresponding to each of the plurality of classifications in association with a condition for the input data;
When the input data satisfies the condition, the activity amount is proportionally divided according to the proportional division ratio corresponding to the condition to calculate the activity amount for each of the plurality of categories;
Calculating the emission amount corresponding to each of the plurality of categories based on the emission factor corresponding to the category and the prorated activity amount;
An information processing method characterized by being executed by a computer. a step of storing, in an emission coefficient storage unit, a plurality of classifications indicating at least one of a scope and a category related to greenhouse gas emissions and an emission coefficient for calculating the emission amount in association with each other;
Receiving input data including an activity amount related to the activity;
storing, in an allocation information storage unit, an allocation ratio corresponding to each of the plurality of classifications in association with a condition for the input data;
When the input data satisfies the condition, the activity amount is proportionally divided according to the proportional division ratio corresponding to the condition to calculate the activity amount for each of the plurality of categories;
Calculating the emission amount corresponding to each of the plurality of categories based on the emission factor corresponding to the category and the prorated activity amount;
A program for causing a computer to execute the following.

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