04 · The protocol

The rules of reciprocation, written down once.

The Reciprocity Protocol is how energy, offsets, and ownership move through the system. It's the contract: what flows in, what flows back, who owns what, and how every claim is proved.

The four guarantees

Four lines. The whole contract.

guarantee 01

Every kWh in gets a kWh out — and then some.

The minimum reciprocity ratio is 1:1. The target is 3:1. We publish the live system ratio at all times. If we ever fall below 1:1, the system halts new sites until we rebalance.

guarantee 02

Every certificate is retired in your name.

RECs and SRECs we buy on your behalf are retired with you listed as the beneficial owner. We don't double-sell, double-count, or "share" certificates. One certificate, one site, one retirement.

guarantee 03

Your ledger is yours. We can't read it without you.

The action graph is encrypted client-side. We hold a copy but not the key. You can export, audit, fork, or destroy it at any time. We get notified only that you did, not what was in it.

guarantee 04

If we ever drain, we pay it back triple.

If an audit finds the system net-negative for any month, we retire 3× the deficit in carbon credits the following month, in your name. Written into the protocol, not the marketing.

Pass-through

You inherit the offset. Not us.

Most "carbon-neutral" platforms keep the certificates on their books — so they can claim neutrality and you can't. We do it the other way: the buyer of record is you.

Certificates retired list your site as beneficial owner.
You can show them to investors, regulators, or your kid.
We can't double-count them for our own marketing.
Audit trail is on a public registry — link in your dashboard.

// pass_through_contract.proto
certificate_type: REC | SREC | VCC
issuer: renewable_producer
retired_by: digital_giant
retired_for: your_site_id
on_behalf_of: you
registry: M-RETS | NEPOOL | WREGIS
amount: 1.000 MWh
vintage: 2026-Q2
resold: false // enforced

// public proof: dgr-proofs.org/{site}

The reciprocity formula

The math, on one screen.

// reciprocity score for your site

R = ( energy_returned + offsets_passed + trackers_blocked × w₁ )
÷ ( energy_consumed + data_extracted × w₂ )

// where:
// w₁ = privacy weight = 0.001 kWh/tracker
// w₂ = extraction penalty = 1 kWh/MB

// floor: R ≥ 1.0 → net-positive
// target: R ≥ 3.0 → 3× reciprocation
// today: R = 3.12 ← system-wide average

This is the whole math. It's a ratio. It's public. It updates every five seconds on your dashboard. There is no second formula in a binder somewhere.