Three Tracks, One 200-Year Bar: Gold Standard's First Biochar Methodology

Gold Standard has published Production and Application for the Removal of Carbon via Biochar (PARC), its first biochar carbon dioxide removal methodology, in Geneva on 3 November 2026, according to Gold Standard. For project developers and credit buyers, the methodology creates a route to durable removal credits across very different production scales, from aggregated manual kilns to industrial facilities, under one set of eligibility, durability and net accounting rules.

Three compliance tracks, one set of integrity rules

PARC divides biochar activities into three compliance tracks, with monitoring requirements matched to the scale and complexity of the production unit, according to Gold Standard. Track 1, the distributed track, covers manual and semi-manual kilns processing less than one tonne of dry biomass per day per unit, operated through an aggregator. Track 2 covers mechanised facilities processing 1 to 15 tonnes per day, with direct weighing of inputs. Track 3 covers industrial facilities above 15 tonnes per day, requiring continuous emissions monitoring and laboratory testing for individual batches.

While monitoring varies by track, eligibility requirements, durability and net accounting rules remain consistent for all projects, according to Gold Standard. For smaller activities, Track 1 is capped at 60,000 tCO2e per year per activity or VPA, and related activities under common ownership or control are assessed together, preventing projects from being split to stay below the threshold. A digital chain of custody links biochar production to its final application, and aggregators are responsible for ensuring participating production units meet the methodology’s requirements. Micro- and small-scale activities in least developed countries and small island developing states can benefit from deemed additionality.

Removals only, counted on carbon stored after 200 years

Under PARC, only carbon removals are credited; avoided emissions from alternative biomass uses are excluded, according to Gold Standard. Credited removals are calculated on the carbon expected to remain stored after 200 years, accounting for biochar stability and the conditions where it is applied. A 1,000-year durability claim is permitted only where supported by additional analysis of the biochar’s carbon structure.

Before credits are issued, the methodology deducts emissions from biomass supply, production, transport and application, alongside leakage and an uncertainty deduction. Projects must demonstrate at least five units of CO2 stored for every unit of activity emissions; no credits are issued for a monitoring period that fails to meet this threshold. To manage the risk of carbon release, projects must contribute to a buffer or apply an upfront risk deduction of at least 2.5%, with higher default rates for some production tracks and end uses.

The storage routes covered are soil, engineered materials and dedicated underground storage. Landfill disposal and fuel use of biochar are excluded, and the crediting period runs five years, renewable twice, for a maximum of 15 years, or 10 years where feedstock comes from invasive species removal or purpose-grown biomass, according to carboncredits.jp. A further deduction of 1.25% applies for the 2026 to 2030 period to align issuances with the Paris Agreement, according to carboncredits.jp.

Biomass must be genuinely surplus

PARC requires feedstock to be genuinely surplus, with sustainability and non-diversion safeguards designed to prevent carbon finance from diverting biomass from existing uses or damaging ecosystems, according to Gold Standard. Six feedstock categories are covered: agricultural residues, processing residues, biomass from invasive species or bush encroachment, disaster and sanitary removals, purpose-grown biomass on degraded land, and organic waste. Purpose-grown biomass and organic waste are limited to Track 3, according to carboncredits.jp.

“PARC is designed to open a route for more producers to participate, from distributed kiln networks to industrial facilities, while ensuring that credits reflect the carbon expected to remain stored over time and account for emissions across the activity,” said Margaret Kim, chief executive of Gold Standard, according to Gold Standard.

A market where half of biochar issuance is already retired

The methodology lands in a segment showing real demand. Cumulative biochar credit issuance stands at about 1.1 million tonnes, with retirements at about 550,000 tonnes, meaning roughly half of issued credits have already been used, according to CDR PRO data cited by carboncredits.jp.

Integrity screening is also advancing. The ICVCM has approved three biochar methodologies under its Core Carbon Principles: Verra’s VM0044 v1.2, Isometric’s Biochar Production and Storage v1.0 and a Climate Action Reserve methodology for the United States and Canada, according to carboncredits.jp. PARC does not yet appear on that list. Puro.earth raised the durability premise in its own biochar methodology to more than 200 years in its 2025 edition, according to carboncredits.jp.

Source: CarbonMeld — independent carbon credit market intelligence. Document-based quality scores and assessments across all major registries: carbonmeld.com

Implications for buyers and developers

For buyers, PARC adds a new source of durable removal supply with uniform accounting rules across scales, though credits issued under it do not yet carry the CCP label that many procurement policies now screen for. The 200-year accounting basis and the five-to-one stored-to-emitted threshold give due diligence teams concrete parameters to test in project documentation.

For developers, the first decision is the track, since it sets the monitoring burden. Distributed activities gain access through aggregators, but the aggregator carries responsibility for compliance across participating kilns, and the 60,000 tCO2e cap limits how large a single Track 1 activity can grow.

What to watch

The first checkpoints are practical: which projects register under PARC, in which track and feedstock category, and how quickly the first credits reach issuance. The second is whether Gold Standard submits PARC for ICVCM assessment, which would determine whether the methodology’s credits can join the labelled pool that increasingly defines buyer demand.