Sem-Chi Rice Products Corp. CDR Facility #1

Audit Analysis

A Puro.earth biochar project at a U.S. rice processing facility with VVB-confirmed additionality (investment test) and a grievance mechanism in place, but significant gaps in permanence assurance (no buffer pool or reversal data stated), completely unaddressed leakage, and a project-specific baseline. Three material findings were identified and resolved during verification, yet three corrective actions remain open, and the ERR figures raise a question about whether the ex-ante estimate and the verified figure are on the same temporal basis.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Leakage is entirely unaddressed: no deduction percentage and no justification appear in any available document, which is a notable gap for a biochar project where displaced carbon removal or feedstock sourcing shifts could generate leakage.
• ⚠No buffer pool percentage or reversal-event history is stated in the extracted record, leaving the permanence claim for this biochar credit unverified against a concrete safeguard mechanism.
• ⚠The verified ERR of 871.0 tCO₂e for a 14-month monitoring period is roughly four times the pro-rata share (~220 tCO₂e) of the 941.9 tCO₂e five-year ex-ante estimate, suggesting either a very conservative baseline or a mismatch in the temporal basis of the two figures.
• ⚠Three corrective actions from the verification report remain open, including implementing a grievance-tracking method and reassessing stakeholder-engagement reliance at the next verification.

Credit Vintages Exhausted