Yangxiang AWMS GHG Mitigation Project in Hebei province

Audit Analysis

A VCS-registered swine-farm anaerobic digestion project in Hebei, China, with VVB-confirmed additionality and all corrective actions resolved, but undermined by extensive initial material findings (7 CARs, 7 CLs), a significant grid emission factor discrepancy between PDD versions, and unresolved leakage quantification. The ERR figures show a 12-fold gap between the PDD lifetime estimate and the validation report's confirmed figure, raising over-crediting concerns for the full crediting period.

Project Description

Red Flags

• ⚠Grid emission factor changed from 0.7119 (2022 PDD) to 1.3 (2024 PDD) — a 83% increase that materially affects project emission calculations and was not explained in available documents
• ⚠PDD lifetime ERR estimate of 273,648 tCO2e versus validation report confirmed figure of 22,296 tCO2e for the monitoring period — a 12-fold gap that, while on different bases, signals potential over-crediting risk over the full 10-year crediting period
• ⚠Leakage is described as 'quantified' in the justification field but no actual deduction percentage appears in any extracted document, leaving the magnitude of leakage treatment unverifiable
• ⚠7 Corrective Action Requests and 7 Clarifications were raised by the VVB covering calculation errors, missing parameters, incorrect IPCC factors, and spreadsheet integrity issues — all resolved but indicating weak initial MRV design

Credit Vintages Exhausted