Gomes de Mattos Ceramic Fuel Switching Project

Audit Analysis

The Gomes de Mattos Ceramic Fuel Switching Project is a VCS-registered industrial fuel-switching project in Brazil with a solid additionality assessment (barrier test confirmed by RINA) and low inherent permanence risk as an avoidance credit. However, the project carries notable integrity concerns stemming from a 2011 verification finding that large quantities of native wood biomass may have originated from agricultural clearing rather than sustainable management, a +98% over-estimation in one monitoring period, and numerous corrective action requests across multiple reporting cycles. The current crediting period (2016–2026) shows consistent claimed and verified ERR of 155,547 tCO2e, but the earlier PDD claimed 479,970 tCO2e, a threefold difference that warrants scrutiny.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠CAR 09 (2011 verification) flagged that large volumes of native wood biomass (11,145 mst from Faz. Boqueirão, 7,190 mst from Faz. Pau D'Arco) may have been sourced from agricultural land clearing rather than sustainable forest management, raising doubts about renewable-biomass eligibility under AMS-I.E.
• ⚠CAR 08 (2011 verification) identified a +98% over-estimation of emission reductions in one monitoring period (88,847 tCO2e calculated vs. 44,875 tCO2e expected pro-rata), with no explanation provided.
• ⚠The PDD (2018) claims 479,970 tCO2e over the crediting period while the 2024 verification report states 155,547 tCO2e — a threefold discrepancy that is not clearly reconciled in the extracted record.
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage or reversal-event history is stated in any available document, leaving permanence safeguards unverified for the current crediting period.
• ⚠The enterprise lacks a formal environmental management system, water-consumption controls, and atmospheric-emission monitoring, as noted in the 2024 verification report's material findings.

Credit Vintages