Brascarbon Methane Recovery Project BCA-BRA-18

Audit Analysis

The Brascarbon Methane Recovery Project is a registered VCS AMS-III.D project in Brazil with a VVB-verified investment additionality test and appropriate avoidance-type permanence treatment. However, the verification report lists eight material findings and eight corrective actions covering fundamental documentation gaps (project start date, baseline parameters, regulatory surplus, implementation status), and four cross-document contradictions reduce confidence in the underlying data. The project is functional but its documentation robustness and baseline specificity warrant caution.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Eight material findings and eight corrective actions were raised by the VVB in the 2025 verification report, covering project start date inconsistency, missing baseline parameter evidence, unillustrated regulatory surplus, and incorrect VCS Standard version application
• ⚠Four contradictions between the 2023 and 2025 monitoring reports on baseline type (measured vs modeled), additionality test (combined vs investment), claimed ERR (57,885 vs 51,514), and leakage justification (deemed negligible vs quantified) indicate inconsistent project documentation over time
• ⚠The verified ERR for the 2023 monitoring period (51,514 tCO2e) is identical to the lifetime claimed ERR, implying the project delivered roughly 700% of the pro-rata annual expectation if the claimed figure is a 7-year lifetime estimate — a ratio that is either extremely conservative ex-ante or suggests the figures are on the same basis and the comparison is not meaningful
• ⚠Leakage deduction is 0% with a 'quantified' justification per the verification report, yet the 2025 monitoring report characterises it as 'deemed negligible' — for a methane recovery project where fugitive emissions are a realistic risk, the absence of a non-zero deduction is a concern

Credit Vintages