How Avelia aligns with 11 key principles and best practices for book and claim systems in heavy transport
As book and claim systems are increasingly used to unlock decarbonisation in hard-to-abate transport sectors, credibility and integrity have become paramount. For heavy transport, where physical access to lower carbon fuels remains limited and fragmented, book and claim can play a critical role, but only if the systems underpinning it are robust, transparent, and trusted by the market.
Avelia was designed with this imperative in mind and built in alignment with recognised industry guidance and best practices for credible book and claim systems. Launched in 2022 by Shell Aviation in collaboration with American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT), Accenture, and with support from the Energy Web Foundation, Avelia adheres to the ‘SAF GHG Emission Accounting and Insetting Guidelines (2021)’ from the Smart Freight Centre (SFC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Centre for Transportation and Logistics (CtL).
As Avelia has evolved, its governance and controls have been progressively strengthened to reflect growing market expectations for high-integrity book and claim systems.
Now, Avelia meets all principles set out in the 11 Principles and Best Practices for Book and Claim Systems in Heavy Transport, developed by the Book and Claim Community and released in June 2024. This document was created to connect, support, and catalyze the development of a unified book and claim chain-of-custody framework for transport decarbonisation.
One of the deliverables of the Year 3 Book and Claim Community plan is to leverage the community’s ‘Principles & Best Practices’ publication with the aim of creating significant progress towards ecosystem convergence, systemic acknowledgement, and scaled implementation of book and claim for heavy transport. This article supports the community’s objective by providing an example from a registry system practitioner’s perspective.
Below is a summary of the 11 principles as the benchmark and how Avelia has implemented them, as detailed in the published Avelia Rulebook. During this assessment process, AllChiefs, an external consulting firm active in the book and claim space, supported the evaluation and assessment of the Avelia system and Rulebook.
These resources will make the below content come to life:
1. Require certification of environmental attributes
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| Independent certification of environmental attributes of a physical fuel or solution’s supply chain is a prerequisite for booking and claiming, where appropriate certification schemes exist. | All SAF, and therefore also the production entity, registered on Avelia is ISCC, RSB or CARB certified at point of production and where possible, until point of tank store (airport). |
2. Use credible normative documents
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| Book and claim systems are consistent with at least one relevant independent standard, framework, or guideline where they exist. | – For its carbon calculation and accounting methodology, Avelia follows the ‘SAF GHG Emission Accounting and Insetting Guidelines (2021)’ from the Smart Freight Centre (SFC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Centre for Transportation and Logistics (CtL). – Avelia meets all 11 principles set out in the 11 Principles and Best Practices for Book and Claim in Heavy Transport, developed by the Book and Claim Community and released in June 2024. – The Avelia Rulebook provides a mapping against the requirements of ISO International Standard 22095-3 on book and claim. |
3. Use credible registries
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| The issuance, transfer, and retirement of a certificate is recorded in a registry before a beneficiary makes a claim about the environmental attributes recorded in that certificate. | – Avelia’s digital platform uses blockchain technology to securely track and record all steps of the environmental attribute information, from the delivery of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to the issuance, allocation, and retirement of the associated environmental attribute information. – The public retirement table displays all retirement records of SAF Declaration of Environmental Attribute Information (“DEA” Information) and SAF Product Transfer Document (“PTD”) on Avelia and is available on the Avelia website. – The Avelia Rulebook provides detailed information on Avelia’s key functionalities including registry account types such as “Batch creator”, “Allocator” and “Recipient”. – For all recipients of SAF environmental attribute information, their exact role in the value chain is recorded on the recipient’s documentation, which is the role they have as the claimant. – For all Batch Creators, an onboarding programme must be completed, and an error-handling protocol must be in place before access to the live environment is provided, in order to ensure correct system usage, minimise operational and data integrity risks, and enable timely and controlled resolution of potential issues. |
4. Prevent erroneous double-counting
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| Book and claim system operators and participants share the collective responsibility of preventing the erroneous double-counting of interventions. | – The Proof of Sustainability (POS) created for the SAF that is being registered on Avelia must be issued by a certified supplier, through a valid Mass Balance Trader Certification (ISCC or RSB). This provides assurance that the SAF inventory has been produced, tracked, and allocated in accordance with recognised sustainability standards and prevents double counting or mis-claiming. – In order to be a valid Batch Creator within Avelia and prevent erroneous double counting, the entity must audit their environmental attribute information management to check that the underlying physical fuel is being sold as jet fuel, i.e. sold without any attached SAF environmental attribute information. This needs to be guaranteed for all SAF retirements executed via a registry as well as for SAF that has been tracked offline and not on a digital registry. – Avelia uses blockchain technology that prevents erroneous double-counting and ensures that the information from the applicable SAF offering is verifiably allocated to an Allocator or Recipient. Once allocated, DEAs are automatically retired and cannot be reassigned. |
5. Ensure additionality
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| Book and claim systems strive to implement commonly understood and accepted additionality criteria. Book and claim system participants adhere to agreed-upon additionality criteria to ensure that certificates represent additional mitigation activities, including that the environmental attribute can be credibly used to substantiate a voluntary claim by clarifying its relation to compliance obligations. | – Avelia creates the ability for Avelia Batch Creators to provide (end-) customers the commercial options for different SAF supply based on their preference (e.g. cost sensitivity and risk tolerance), facilitated through the contracting process. – Avelia provides transparency by adding the supplier declaration on SAF incentives, tax credits or regulatory schemes in the customer output documents. – Fuel volumes that have been used to fulfil obligations under blending mandates are not eligible for SAF batch creation in Avelia and are therefore excluded from use within Avelia. – This includes, but is not limited to, the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation, the Norway SAF blending mandate, the Switzerland CO2 Regulation, and the United Kingdom SAF blending mandate. |
6. Enable multiple distinct claims for the same voluntary interventions
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| Multiple valid voluntary claims can exist for a single intervention in heavy transport supply chains if they are claimed by actors at different points in the value chain, mirroring accounting and reporting norms for emissions in conventional transportation supply chains. | – Avelia adheres to the principle that the allocation of the environmental attribute information has to take place to a single recipient with that specific valid role in the aviation value chain. The scope of emissions applicable is related to the individual entity’s role in the value chain. As an example: Carrier, Aviation Service User, LSP (Logistics Service Provider), Shipper. – There could be multiple different roles in the same value chain; the role each party plays in the value chain is indicated on that party’s SAF documentation, ensuring that documentation can only be used according to that party’s specific role. As an example: LSPs and Shippers along the same value chain can access the same life cycle GHG emissions reduction benefits, as they have different roles in that value chain. – To provide additional clarity, the User Guide is available to all Avelia users. It includes a mapping of the registry account types, roles in the value chain, and receipt of the relevant DEA type (Carrier or Aviation Service User). |
7. Independent robust governance
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| Decision-making processes within book and claim systems, including rule definition and implementation, incorporate processes to uphold the collective interests of system participants. | – Shell has contracted Accenture to independently host the Avelia platform and conduct the ongoing development and support of the platform. Database access is strictly limited to the Accenture Development Leads. – In 2026, Shell Aviation established the Avelia Multilateral Governance Committee (AMGC) to introduce multi-party governance to the Avelia platform, strengthening transparency, credibility, and industry-wide participation while upholding the collective interests of system participants. – The Avelia Multilateral Governance Committee provides independent oversight of the Avelia Rulebook and platform operations, ensuring alignment with relevant industry standards and practices. – The AMGC guides the direction and evolution of the Rulebook, including rule definition and implementation, through the review of audit results and proposed changes. The committee represents everyone using the Avelia system, including existing and future customers, to ensure appropriate expertise and independence. Its responsibilities include: a) Review and update the Avelia Rulebook to ensure alignment with relevant industry standards and practices b) Provide oversight of the implementation and ongoing application of the Avelia Rulebook c) Review audit outcomes d) Oversee the composition and evolution of AMGC e) Provide consultative guidance and recommend changes to support Avelia’s ongoing development. |
8. Ensure data accuracy
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| All actors in a book and claim system are responsible for ensuring accurate reporting and use of data in their respective step of the chain of custody in order to reflect the certified characteristics of the fuel and/or the service in a book and claim system. | – To be able to register a SAF Batch, mandatory documentation is required for each SAF Batch creation. The verification documentation includes: – SAF certification/sustainability data including feedstock – Proof of delivery – Proof of production date – Supplier-specific data for the SAF Batch – Additionally, if the Batch Creator is an airline, Proof of ownership of the SAF Batch and the attributes being created. – Avelia’s external auditor conducts a yearly verification audit for life cycle GHG emissions data from the previous calendar year. The third-party auditor verifies the credibility and completeness of the documentation submitted by the Batch Creator entities as well as the accuracy of the life cycle GHG emissions accounting methodology. This calculator is used to calculate the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions abated by using a quantity of SAF to displace an equivalent quantity of conventional jet fuel, on an energetic basis. – Based on the specific data provided to create a SAF Batch, there are various customer documentation templates available to issue to recipients. As per the Rulebook, all mandatory fields have to be displayed. – Each Batch Creator or Allocator is solely responsible for conducting Know Your Customer (KYC) checks independently, outside the Avelia platform. – The recipient’s role in the value chain is indicated on the environmental attribute information documentation they receive, allowing them to use the right attribute for the right part of their emissions profile and to accurately include it in their climate-related emissions disclosures. |
9. Make system requirements and functionalities transparent
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| Book and claim systems are transparent about their requirements and functionalities to participants and the public, including the methodologies, standards, or references used to calculate or reflect the attributes, the aggregated metadata of issued certificates or similar, and the requirements to participate in a system. | – Within the published Rulebook the key functionalities are described, such as the recording of the actual physical delivery of SAF, Batch registration, validation and approval, Batch Status, SAF environmental attribute inventory creation, allocation and retirement. – The Carbon Abatement Calculator and Biogenic Emissions Calculator Methodology are also available in the published Rulebook. – There are three categories of Registry account types available on Avelia. Within each Registry account there are 3 types of user roles that have specific permissions and levels of access based on standard segregation of duty principles. – The Rulebook is published externally, and changes are subject to external consultation as well as to Avelia Multilateral Governance Committee review and approval. |
10. Accurately procure and transparently report certificates
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| Participants of book and claim systems procure certificates that correspond to their specific transport mode to mirror their organisation’s transportation activity, and transparently and accurately use certificates in the context of complete and verified GHG emissions disclosures. | – Based on the specific data provided to create a SAF batch, various customer documentation templates are available for issuance to Carriers and Aircraft Service Users, indicating that they are issued for the air transport mode. All mandatory fields must be displayed. This information, such as injection location and injection date, helps buyer organisations match their specific emissions profile. In addition, there are optional fields, depending on specific customer requirements, as agreed in the contract. – Also, the recipient’s role in the value chain is indicated on the environmental attribute information documentation they receive, allowing them to use the environmental attribute information for their emissions profile and to accurately include it in their climate-related emissions disclosures according to their role in the value chain. – All active allocations are publicly available in the public retirement table on the Avelia website, ensuring evidence of procurement of an active SAF batch. – Avelia’s external auditors conduct a regular verification audit for GHG data from within the previous calendar year. |
11. Collaborate to mitigate risks
| What the principle means | How Avelia meets the principle |
| Book and claim systems promote alignment with international, national, and/or industry-wide standards and principles to facilitate data comparability and promote the exchange of information to mitigate risks (i.e., double counting) and to facilitate reporting and accountability. | Collaboration in the guideline development space includes, for example: – Commissioning of the ‘SAF GHG Emission Accounting and Insetting Guidelines (2021)’ from the Smart Freight Centre (SFC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Centre for Transportation and Logistics (CtL). – Shell has led the project group that developed the ISO Standard 22095-3 for book and claim. Data specific: – Specific data has to be provided to register a SAF batch. All mandatory fields have to be displayed, including for instance SAF POS ID, SAF certification scheme & Mass Balance Trader certified entity, among others. – The Rulebook is published externally, and changes are subject to external consultation as well as Avelia Multilateral Governance Committee review and approval. |
Together, these 11 principles establish a clear benchmark for what credible book and claim systems must deliver to support decarbonisation in heavy-duty transport. Through its system design, governance, and operating practices, Avelia aligns with these principles, giving customers confidence in its robust governance, enhanced transparency, and commitment to reliable, high-quality data.
We look forward to seeing more solution providers improve and enhance their book & claim systems!
“Upholding integrity in book and claim for both passenger and cargo transport is essential to maintaining an effective market-based mechanism for reducing aviation emissions. The Avelia team has made a significant effort in designing a registry that aligns with relevant standards while remaining pragmatic in its implementation. With the launch of multilateral governance, the framework is well positioned to stay current through the right oversight and decision-making.”
Inge Tanke, Co-Owner, AllChiefs
“This alignment with recognized industry principles positions Avelia as a credible and scalable foundation for high-integrity book and claim today, while remaining adaptable as standards, expectations, and market needs continue to evolve.”
Sriram Musunuri, Global Head of Sustainability, Shell Aviation
DISCLAIMER
*Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. Depending on jurisdiction and local laws, Shell may offer the sale of Environmental Attributes (for which subject to applicable law and consultation with own advisors, buyers might be able to use such Environmental Attributes for their own emission reduction purposes) and/or Environmental Attribute Information (pursuant to which buyers are helping subsidize the use of SAF and lower overall aviation emissions at designated airports but no emission reduction claims may be made by buyers for their own emissions reduction purposes). Different offerings have different forms of contracts, and no assumptions should be made about a particular offering without reading the specific contractual language applicable to such offering.
Glossary
Aircraft Service User: “Aircraft Service User” means an entity that uses the services of an aircraft to transport goods or people or provide services to third parties relating to such services including but not limited to the following as defined in SFC SAF guidelines: Shippers, Logistics Service Providers, Business Travelers or Travel Management Companies.
Carrier: Carriers are organisations that operate transportation assets to conduct transportation activity in providing transportation services.
Declaration of Environmental Attributes Information (DEA): The declaration information is a one-time record of the SAF delivered in relation to the environmental attribute information, meaning data relating to delivered SAF, including the life cycle GHG emissions intensity of the delivered SAF, the total volume of SAF and the certification scheme used for calculation of the life cycle GHG emissions intensity of SAF.
Environmental attributes (as per SFC definition): The term as defined in ‘SAF GHG Emission Accounting and Insetting Guidelines (2021)’ from the Smart Freight Centre (SFC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Centre for Transportation and Logistics (CtL), “environmental attributes of SAF” are properties of the fuel related to the environmental impact of its production and use.
PTD: A Product Transfer Document is the record used to track the transfer of product from one entity to another. Within Avelia, this is used after SAF fuel delivery to issue a PTD with details of the SAF-associated environmental attribute data for the mass balance chain-of-custody model.