Step 1: Creating SMTP account

The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an internet standard communication protocol that is used to send email over the internet. The software module requires a valid SMTP account, so that an email with all necessary information including the link to purchase the carbon-emission certificate can be sent after the experiment has finished. There is a multitude of SMTP service providers to choose from. Various service providers offer a free plan which is more than enough for the purposes of the software module.

Possible service providers with a free plan are Mailjet or SendinBlue. We used Mailjet because no credit card is needed, the free plan has no expiring date and it’s possible to send up 200 emails a day.