Blockchain-enabled road vehicle emissions monitoring: A secure, scalable and private framework

Abstract

Accurate vehicle emissions monitoring is essential for evaluating environmental impact and ensuring regulatory compliance. However, current monitoring systems primarily rely on periodic inspections and manufacturer-provided data; approaches with inherent limitations that can impact accuracy and provide limited opportunities for real-time verification. In the evolving landscape of connected vehicles, securely transmitting emissions data to regulatory authorities is therefore vital for accurate environmental monitoring and compliance. To address these shortcomings, we propose a blockchain-enabled framework using Hyperledger Fabric, which ensures data integrity, authenticity, and auditability without relying on centralised trust. Compared to our prior setup reaching about 250 transactions per second (TPS), our revised consensus policy and improved client simulation achieve a throughput of 360 TPS representing a 44% increase under large-scale conditions involving 27 Member States (MS). We employed the Experimental Platform for Internet Contingency (EPIC) infrastructure to emulate realistic network topologies, simulating up to 5,400 simultaneous vehicle clients and handling data from 280 million vehicles reporting annually. By integrating secure vehicle identity management with GDPR-compliant off-chain data storage, our solution addresses the transparency and manipulation gaps present in current systems. These findings show blockchain’s viability for large-scale, real-time vehicular emissions reporting, contributing to more trustworthy and sustainable transport infrastructures.