Berglandmilch Cooperative Grouped Project: Reduction of methane emissions in the Austrian Dairy Sector

Audit Analysis

The Berglandmilch dairy methane-reduction project has a VVB-confirmed additionality assessment and no material findings, but suffers from a project-specific modeled baseline, an unquantified 0% leakage deduction, and a striking discrepancy between the original lifetime estimate (178,033 tCO₂e) and the first monitoring-period verification (980 tCO₂e), which represents only about 3% of the pro-rata expectation. The low extraction confidence and absence of a stated buffer pool further limit confidence in the credit quality.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠The 2024 PDD estimated 178,033 tCO₂e over the crediting period, yet the first 14-month monitoring period verified only 980 tCO₂e — roughly 3.3% of the pro-rata expectation (~29,672 tCO₂e), raising serious over-crediting concerns in the original baseline.
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage is stated in any available document, leaving permanence risk unaddressed for a project where herd composition or feed changes could reverse avoided emissions.
• ⚠Leakage is set at 0% with only a 'deemed negligible' justification and no quantified analysis, which is thin for a sector-wide dairy project spanning all nine Austrian federal states.
• ⚠Minimum extraction confidence is rated low, meaning at least one key document was poorly readable and some critical fields (buffer pool, usage rates, CORSIA/CCP status) could not be confirmed.

Credit Vintages Exhausted