Guaicaramo

Audit Analysis

The Guaicaramo biochar project has a VVB-confirmed combined additionality test and a functioning verification process that surfaced five material findings, but the absence of a stated buffer pool, leakage treatment, and permanence safeguards for a biochar project is a significant integrity gap. The verified ERR of 106.04 tCO₂e for the first 13-month monitoring period is roughly 440% of the pro-rata expectation from the 110.85 tCO₂e five-year claim, yet the material findings (LCA boundary error, soil-temperature underestimation, inventory logic error) indicate the verified figure is likely overstated and will be reduced after corrective actions. Overall, the project shows a credible verification process but carries meaningful over-crediting and permanence risk.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Five material findings in the verification report, including an LCA that initially omitted cradle-to-grave emissions from biochar soil application, a soil-temperature assumption 5 °C below the regional average, and a FIFO inventory logic error — all of which suggest the verified ERR of 106.04 tCO₂e is likely overstated.
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage or permanence safeguard is stated in the extracted record for a biochar project where carbon storage is the core credit mechanism and reversal risk is inherent.
• ⚠Leakage deduction and justification are not stated in any available document, leaving the treatment of displaced or shifted emissions unaddressed.
• ⚠Six corrective actions are required before the verification can be considered clean, including recalculation of t.km, inclusion of missing electricity and biogas records, and a full LCA boundary correction.

Credit Vintages Exhausted