Biomass Cookstove Project in Jharkhand

Audit Analysis

A registered VCS biomass cookstove project in Jharkhand with VVB-confirmed additionality and a quantified 5% leakage deduction, but undermined by a project-specific baseline with no stated reassessment date, contradictory FPIC findings across verification reports, and significant inconsistencies in emissions-reduction figures across the PDD and monitoring report. The project is not CORSIA-eligible and uses a conservative FNRB in monitoring, but the absence of buffer-pool details, usage-rate data, and CCP status leaves material gaps in the permanence and claim-safety picture.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠FPIC status is contradictory: the 2022-12-12 verification report states FPIC was conducted, while the later 2022-12-22 verification report states it was not; the later document is privileged, indicating FPIC was not conducted.
• ⚠Emissions-reduction figures are inconsistent across documents: the PDD reports 7,659 tCO₂e (claimed) and 11,507 tCO₂e (verified), while the 2024 monitoring report reports 6,730 tCO₂e for a single 12-month period; the basis of comparison (lifetime vs. annual) is unclear from the extracted record, creating over-crediting risk.
• ⚠FNRB value differs between the verification report (0.91, national default) and the monitoring report (0.8082); while the lower monitoring value is conservative, the unexplained shift weakens baseline consistency.
• ⚠No buffer-pool percentage or reversal-event history is stated in any available document, leaving permanence risk unquantified for a cookstove project where stove failure or abandonment could reverse avoided emissions.

Credit Vintages