envrcpt

Envrcpt, short for environment receipt, is a proposed standard data interchange format and protocol for capturing environmental context and resource usage associated with a computational or physical process. It is designed to travel with a task as a lightweight, machine-readable record of its environmental footprint.

Origin and purpose: Developed by a consortium of researchers and industry partners in the early 2020s, envrcpt aims to enable consistent reporting of energy, materials, and emissions across diverse workflows, from software builds to laboratory experiments.

Format and content: An envrcpt typically includes fields such as timestamp, system_id, task_id, energy_kwh, material_kg, waste_kg, carbon_kg_co2e, method, and version, plus an extensible metadata map. It may be serialized in JSON, XML, or a compact binary form, and supports schema validation and digital signatures.

Usage and applications: Emitted automatically by workflow managers, job schedulers, or devices at task completion, envrcpts can be aggregated for dashboards, benchmarks, and lifecycle assessments. They facilitate auditing, green-computing initiatives, and interoperability between tools.

Challenges and reception: Critics note measurement uncertainty, differences in domain definitions, potential privacy concerns, and the risk of added overhead. Proponents argue that standardized receipts improve transparency, comparability, and accountability in sustainable computing.

See also: environmental data formats, lifecycle assessment, carbon footprint accounting, and sustainability in computing.