CRCF Biochar

This Protocol provides the requirements and procedures for the calculation of net CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) removals from the atmosphere via Biochar. This Protocol is developed for issuing Credits under the EU Carbon Removal and Carbon Farming (CRCF) framework established by EU Regulation 2024/3012.

This Protocol contains all relevant requirements laid out in the Delegated Act Annex, and a series of Modules which each apply the relevant additional Isometric requirements to ensure all Isometric CRCF Activities have the same quality assurance, durability and scientific rigour as comparable non-CRCF Isometric Activities.

Under this protocol, Isometric additional modules can only ever institute additional checks or subtract from the CRCF equation terms, and never result in a higher credit total.

The only place where the Delegated Act Annex text has been modified is (with Isometric additions in bold):

• Section 6.0: Isometric CRCF Requirements has been added to apply the Isometric CRCF Modules.

Isometric CRCF Protocols use CRCF terminology defined by the CRCF Regulations. These terms are considered equivalent to Isometric terminology according to this glossary.

A BCR activity shall consist of biochar production at one or more biochar production facilities that are owned by the same legal entity and that apply the same biochar production technology as each other. Biochar produced at different locations may never be assigned to the same production batch (see Section 3.1.5.1) even if the feedstock and production conditions are similar. Biochar from a single activity may be applied in soils or incorporated in products at several sites.

A BCR activity shall ensure that the biochar production facility and the storage of the biochar are located in the Union.

The biochar production process shall:

• heat biomass or biomass fuel to temperatures of at least 350 °C;
• be designed with the intention of fully capturing or destroying any methane produced with the biochar;
• utilise the co-produced heat for biomass drying or to satisfy another economically justifiable demand for heat, for heating or cooling purposes. As an exception to this rule, mobile biochar facilities may operate without utilisation of produced heat if it would be impractical in their specific context for the heat to be utilised. Certification may provide more detailed requirements on minimum heat utilisation efficiency.

Biochar may be applied to soils to provide permanent carbon storage. Activities where biochar is applied to soils shall ensure that there is no significant risk that the net climate benefit of the BCR is offset by heat absorption due to albedo decreases

(a) Biochar applied in agricultural and forest soils

Biochar application shall be eligible for certification if it has been, either directly without first intermixing it with any other product, or after intermixing with a matrix consisting of soil or one or more additional soil amendment products in compliance with Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 of the European Parliament and of the Council, or after feeding to animals and recovery as manure:

1. applied to agricultural soils;
2. applied to forest soils;
3. applied to soil in greenhouses.

Total application of biochar to agricultural and forest soils shall be limited to no more than 50 tonnes per hectare (t/ha) cumulatively over time, including any forms of biochar application whether or not they are certified and including applications that were made prior to the adoption of this methodology. Operators shall maintain geographically specific application records to enable cumulative application to be monitored.

(b) Biochar applied in soils other than agricultural and forest soils

Biochar application will be eligible for certification if it has been, either directly without first intermixing it with any other product, or after intermixing with a matrix consisting of soil or other appropriate materials:

1. used in landscaping, for daily cover at landfill sites or for filling holes, including disused mines and oil wells;
2. applied to urban soils, including growing media used in flowerbeds or for urban tree planting and in public parks and public or private gardens.

Activities that produce biochar that is used for landscaping, landfill or hole filling shall intermix the biochar with at least one other material prior to application and shall ensure that the intermixture cannot self-sustain combustion.

Only BCR activities that incorporate biochar in cement, concrete or asphalt will be eligible for certification.

The duration of any Activity Period for a BCR activity shall not exceed 5 years. At the end of every Activity Period Operators may start a new Activity Period by submitting a new Activity Plan.

The Monitoring Period for BCR activities shall be:

1. for Activities that use biochar by application to soil, where application to soil is directly overseen by the Certification Body the period up to application, otherwise the period up to one year after the end of the Certification Period during which the biochar is reported to have been applied to the soil;
2. for Activities that use biochar by incorporation in products, the period up to the point at which it is demonstrated that the biochar has been incorporated.

The Certification Period for a BCR activity shall not exceed one year. Carbon removals and associated emissions shall be recorded in the Certification Period in which the CO₂ is permanently stored by application of biochar to soils or incorporation of biochar in products.

Before the Certification audit, the Operator shall submit to the Certification Body an Activity Plan that includes the information necessary to assess compliance with the requirements of this methodology, as referred to in the third paragraph.

Where an Operator wishes to change the Activity Plan during the Activity Period, that Operator shall submit a rationale behind the changes to the Certification Bodies without delay and shall include any adjustment to the initial plan, in particular the recalculation of the expected greenhouse gas emissions and removals and impacts on sustainability requirements.

The Activity Plan shall include:

1. a general description of the Activity, the technologies and the infrastructure to be utilised;
2. details of all entities of the carbon removal value chain involved in delivery of the Activity;
3. identification and demonstration of compliance of the Activity with any relevant local, regional and national laws, statutes and regulatory frameworks;
4. a list of emission sources and sinks that are relevant to the Activity, in accordance with Section 3.1.1;
5. estimates of total carbon removals and GHG associated emissions of the Activity for the Activity Period, in accordance with points (k), (l) and (m) of Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
6. a description of any materiality assessment undertaken in accordance with Section 3.3.1;
7. a description of the assessment of uncertainty, in accordance with Section 3.3.6;
8. proof of compliance with the minimum sustainability requirements, in accordance with Section 5.1;
9. funding sources received or applied for with regard to the activity, in accordance with Section 3.1.2;
10. any other information necessary for the Certification Body to conduct the Certification Audit in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2024/3012.

Before the Certification Audit, Operators shall submit a Monitoring Plan to the Certification Body. That Monitoring Plan shall comply with the following criteria:

1. it shall include a description of the activity to be monitored;
2. it shall include a description of the procedure for managing the assignment of responsibilities for monitoring and reporting, and for managing the competences of responsible personnel;
3. it shall include, where applicable, the default values used for calculation factors indicating the source of the factor, or the relevant source, from which the default factor will be retrieved periodically;
4. it shall include, where applicable, a list of laboratories engaged in carrying out relevant analytical procedures;
5. it shall include, where measurements are taken, a description of the measurement method including descriptions of all written procedures relevant for the measurement;
6. it shall include, where applicable, a detailed description of the monitoring methodology where transfer of CO₂ is carried out, including a description of continuous measurement systems used and of procedures for preventing, detecting and quantification of leakage events from CO₂ transport infrastructure;
7. it shall apply, where applicable, the minimum frequencies for analysis listed in Annex VII to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066;
8. it shall apply the standard for quality assurance laid down in Article 60 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066;
9. it shall include a record keeping requirement for all relevant data and information consistent with the record keeping requirements laid down in Article 67(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066.

In the case that it is not possible to fully detail the Monitoring Plan when an Operator applies for certification, the Monitoring Plan shall be submitted as completely as possible, clearly indicating any non-final aspects and providing an indication of how the Operator expects these aspects to be addressed. The Activity may be certified on this basis provided the Certification Body accepts that the omissions are properly justified. The Monitoring Plan shall be finalised and presented to the Certification Body prior to the first Re-Certification.

Operators shall obtain, record, compile, analyse and document monitoring data, including assumptions, references, activity data and calculation factors in a transparent manner that enables the checking of performance achieved during at the various activity stages, and, when requested, report this information to the Certification Body or Isometric.

Each parameter monitored shall be accompanied with the following information:

1. the entity responsible for collection and archiving;
2. the data source;
3. the equipment, measurement methods and procedures used for monitoring, including details on accuracy and calibration;
4. the monitoring frequency;
5. the quality assessment and quality check procedures.

All measurements shall be conducted with calibrated measurement equipment according to industry standards, following the requirements in Articles 42 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, and any necessary data aggregation shall be undertaken following the requirements in Article 44 of that Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066.

Before each Re-Certification Audit, the Operator shall submit to the Certification Body a Monitoring Report including the net carbon removal benefit, the total amount of gross carbon removal generated by the Activity, the amount of greenhouse gases associated to the Activity and all the necessary information relating to the quantification of the net carbon removal benefit and any relevant information on the compliance of the Activity with storage, liability and sustainability requirements. In particular, the Monitoring Report shall include the following:

1. all the parameters specified in Sections 3.1.5.6, 3.1.6.2 or 3.2.3 measured and calculated for the quantification of carbon removals and GHG emissions associated with the Activity. All removals and emissions of CO₂ and emissions of other GHGs shall be assessed over the Certification Period that is to be audited and reported in the Monitoring Report. Emissions of GHGs other than CO₂ shall be converted to tonnes of CO₂e by use of the 100-year Global Warming Potentials set out in Annex I to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1044;
2. the biomass feedstock or feedstock mix consumed as required under Section 5.2;
3. the quantity of carbon farming sequestration units that have been purchased in accordance with Section 5.3.2;
4. financing received or applied for with regard to the Activity, in accordance with Section 3.1.2;
5. for BCR activities, the results of laboratory analyses required in Sections 5.4.1, 5.4.2 and 5.4.3.

BCR Activities shall consider GHG sources and sinks included in Table 6.

Table 6: Sinks and sources that shall be included for a BCR activity

A standardised baseline set to 0 tCO₂/year shall apply for BCR activities.
Where the Activity is financed through a combination of public and private funding, in order to document that there is no overcompensation of costs, when submitting the Activity Plan to Isometric, Operators shall indicate any form of public financing received or applied for with regard to the Activity. This information shall be included in the certificate of compliance.

The Operator shall calculate the total carbon removals ($CR_{total}$) in accordance with Equation 44.

$$CR_{total} = -3.664 \cdot F_{perm} \cdot C_{org} \cdot Q_{biochar}$$

(Equation 44)

Where:

• $F_{perm}$ = the permanence fraction of the biochar calculated following the rules in Section 3.2.1, as a percentage;
• $C_{org}$ = the organic carbon content of the biochar, $C_{org}$, which shall be established by laboratory analysis as the ratio of the mass of organic carbon in the biochar to the total mass of the biochar. Isometric may identify specific cases in which Operators may treat the inorganic carbon content of the biochar as zero without requiring it to be directly assessed;
• $Q_{biochar}$ = the mass of biochar applied or incorporated during the Certification Period, in tonnes on a dry matter basis. The mass of biochar shall exclude any fraction from non-biogenic material also processed in the biochar production process. If the biochar feedstock may be expected to contain a fraction of non-biogenic carbon greater than 2% of the total carbon feedstock by mass, the biogenic carbon fraction in the biochar product shall be identified by carbon 14 (¹⁴C) testing;
• $3.664$ = the mass ratio of a CO₂ molecule to a carbon atom.

The greenhouse gases associated shall be calculated according to the Equation 45.

$$GHG_{associated} = GHG_{biochar} + GHG_{transport} + GHG_{use}$$

(Equation 45)

Where:

• $GHG_{biochar}$ = GHG emissions associated with the production of biochar, calculated following the rules in Section 3.1.5.4;
• $GHG_{transport}$ = GHG emissions associated with biochar transport from the production facility to the point of application or incorporation, calculated following the rules in Section 3.1.6.1;
• $GHG_{use}$ = GHG emissions associated with the application or incorporation of biochar, calculated following the rules in Section 3.2.2.

The amount of biochar produced shall be measured and assigned to production batches that share feedstock mix and common processing conditions, i.e. the same underlying process is used and target temperature of biochar production, the biochar residence time and any techniques used to manage the oxygen concentration are consistent across the batch. Common feedstock mix requires shares of feedstock types in the mix to be similar across the batch. Production batches may not include biochar produced in more than one Certification Period.

During Re-Certification units may be issued in relation to all production batches applied or incorporated during the relevant Certification Period. If only part of a production batch has been applied or incorporated at the point of Re-Certification, then units shall be issued for the part that has been applied or incorporated, and units may be issued for the remainder if it has been applied or incorporated at the point of a later Re-Certification.

A production batch may be interrupted and restarted at a later time. If biochar produced from the same feedstock under the same conditions is split into more than one consignment for sale to different end uses, this may still be treated as a single production batch for the purpose of quantification.

Operators shall undertake laboratory testing on each production batch of biochar. The properties required in order to follow this methodology must be reported to the Certification Body during Re-Certification Audits:

1. the organic carbon content of the biochar, $C_{org}$, as required in Equation 44;
2. the molar ratio of hydrogen to organic carbon in the biochar ($H$/$C_{org}$ ratio), as required in Section 3.1.5.2 and when the decay function is used to assess the permanence fraction of the biochar (Section 3.2.1.2);
3. the energy density of the biochar on a lower heating value basis;
4. where the random reflectance assessment is used to assess the permanence fraction of the biochar (Section 3.2.1.1), the fraction of the biochar that is identified as having a $R_{o}$ reflectance value of 2% or greater and associated measurements;
5. compliance with the maximum thresholds for the limited substances detailed in Section 5.4.1, 5.4.2 and 5.4.3.

All production batches of biochar shall be sampled. Samples shall be representative of the average properties of the production batch being sampled. Operators shall include a description of the sampling protocol in the Monitoring Plan for review by the Certification Body at Re-Certification Audits, and shall follow this Protocol during the Activity Period. The sampling protocol may be amended during the Activity Period where Operators demonstrate that the sample data is at least equally representative of the batches. Sampling protocols shall be consistent with Article 33 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, with the exception of the last sentence of paragraph 1 of that Article.

The biochar to be sampled shall be well-mixed, and Operators shall take an adequate number of samples to ensure that the data from the samples is representative of the production batch. When a production batch is produced over a period of time (in one or more production runs) sampling shall be undertaken either after mixing of the biochar produced over the full production period, or on subsets of the batch and a sufficient number of samples shall be taken to robustly establish the average properties of the biochar across the full production batch. A Certification Body or Isometric may require analysis of retention samples if this is deemed necessary to establish a representative characterisation of a production batch, or to confirm that measurements taken are representative.

Sampling protocols may allow for a reduction in the frequency of sampling over time if it is demonstrated that a process reliably produces biochar with consistent characteristics from a given feedstock.

The biochar producer shall take retention samples of the biochar produced which shall be made available on request to the Certification Body, Isometric or relevant representatives of competent national authorities. One litre retention samples shall be taken for each production batch every day that biochar is produced and may be aggregated across the calendar month for storage, keeping samples of each production batch separate. Retention samples shall be stored for at least two years.

The emissions associated with the operation of the biochar facility shall be calculated in accordance with Equation 46.

$$GHG_{biochar} = F_{alloc} \cdot (GHG_{facility} + GHG_{inputs})$$

(Equation 46)

Where:

• $F_{alloc}$ = allocation fraction for biochar, calculated in accordance with Equation 47. The biochar shall be treated as a residue of another process if the chemical energy in the biochar produced (LHV) is less than 10% of the total energy of the produced co-products, and in that case $F_{alloc} = 0$ and it is not necessary for the terms $GHG_{facility}$ and $GHG_{inputs}$ to be calculated;
• $GHG_{facility}$ = total GHG emissions from operation and construction of the biochar production facility, calculated in accordance with Section 3.1.5.4.1;
• $GHG_{inputs}$ = total emissions associated with inputs to the biochar production facility, calculated using Equation 54.

$$F_{\text{alloc}}=
\begin{cases}
0, \text{if the biochar is treated as a residue},\\[6pt]
E_{biochar}\Big/ \biggr(E_{biochar}+ \displaystyle\sum_{\text{co-products}} E_{co-products} 
\biggr) otherwise
\end{cases}$$

(Equation 47)

Where:

• $E_{biochar}$ = chemical energy in the biochar in mega joule per kg (MJ/kg) of biochar produced, assessed by laboratory testing on a lower heating value basis;
• $\text{co−products}$ = an index of the energy-containing co-products of the biochar production process. Outputs from the process that are exported from the facility to be used elsewhere and that contain at least 10% of the total energy in all the outputs of the process are co-products. Electricity, useful heat and materials containing chemical energy (assessed on a lower heating-value basis) exported from the facility shall be treated as co-products if they meet these conditions. Electricity or heat used by the Activity, including for drying biomass, shall not be counted as being exported from the facility and therefore are not co-products. Co-products that are subject to further processing before export from the facility shall be included based on their energy content prior to this additional processing. Outputs with no heating value, such as ash or outputs sent for disposal shall not be considered in the allocation calculation;
• $E_{co−products}$ = in the case of material co-products, the chemical energy in each co-product in MJ/kg of biochar produced, assessed by laboratory testing on a lower heating value basis. In the case of electricity and heat as co-products, the amount of electricity or useful heat supplied to a grid, network or user outside the activity, where useful heat is defined as heat generated to satisfy an economical justifiable demand for heat, for heating and cooling purposes (cf. Paragraph 1 of Part C of Annex V to Directive (EU) 2018/2001).

The emissions $GHG_{biochar}$ associated with the biochar production facility, including any emissions associated with preparation and packaging of biochar, shall be calculated in accordance with Equation 48.

$$GHG_{facility} = GHG_{bio} + GHG_{bio-storage} + GHG_{combustion} + CH_{4\ release}\\\ + GHG_{elec} + GHG_{heat} + GHG_{capital} + GHG_{disposal}$$

(Equation 48)

Where:

$GHG_{bio}$ refers to emissions associated with the production and supply of biomass and biomass fuel used at the biochar-producing facility, calculated in accordance Equation 49.

$$GHG_{bio} = \sum_{fuels} (Q_{biomass} \cdot EF_{biomass})$$

(Equation 49)

Where:

• $Q_{biomass}$ = quantity of the biomass or biomass fuel that is consumed by the biochar production facility in the Certification Period, expressed in an appropriate unit, excluding any non-biomass contamination (e.g. soil, rocks);
• $EF_{biomass}$ = emission factor, expressed in tCO₂e/unit, selected in accordance with the rules in Section 3.3.4.3.

$GHG_{bio-storage}$ refers to CH₄ emissions due to biomass storage prior to processing at the biochar production facility. It shall be calculated for each quantity of feedstock of a given type that is harvested or collected at the same time and stored in the same way. $GHG_{bio-storage}$ will be set to zero for a quantity of feedstock if one or more of the following practices are followed for all biomass utilised:

1. biomass stored for use in the biochar production process consists of coarse woody material that naturally remains well aerated;
2. biomass that is stored in a form that does not necessarily remain naturally aerated shall either:
3. be stored for no more than four weeks prior to processing;
4. be stored with a maximum of 30% residual moisture.
5. biomass is pelleted for storage;
6. operators otherwise demonstrate that biomass is stored in a way that avoids significant methane emissions from anaerobic decomposition given the nature of the feedstock and the local conditions.

Otherwise, $GHG_{bio-storage}$ shall be calculated in accordance with Equation 50.

$$GHG_{bio-storage} = \sum_{feedstock} \biggr(1.335 \cdot 0.0013 \cdot Q_{feedstock} \cdot C_{feedstock} \cdot (T_{storage} -1) \biggr) \cdot GWP_{CH_4}$$

(Equation 50)

Where:

• $Q_{feedstock}$ = the quantity of feedstock stored for more than four weeks in potentially anaerobic conditions;
• $C_{feedstock}$ = the carbon content of the feedstock, expressed as a mass %;
• $T_{storage}$ = the period in months for which feedstock is stored in potentially anaerobic conditions;
• $feedstock$ = an index of the feedstocks consumed;
• $GWP_{CH_4}$ = global warming potential of methane, 100 year basis;
• $0.0013$ = the assumed monthly fractional loss of biomass carbon from storage;
• $1.335$ = the mass ratio of a methane molecule to a carbon atom.

$GHG_{combustion}$ refers to emissions due to fuel consumption at the biochar production facility, including CH₄ and N₂O emissions from biomass, biogas and bioliquid combustion for energy, whether brought in from outside the facility or co-produced by the process, calculated in accordance with Equation 51.

$$GHG_{combustion} = \sum_{fuels} (Q_{fuel} \cdot EF_{fuel}) + CO_{2\ stored, fossil}$$

(Equation 51)

Where:

• $Q_{fuel}$ = the quantity of the fuel consumed in the Certification Period, expressed in an appropriate unit, including in the case of mixed biogenic and non-biogenic feedstocks any fossil-carbon-based material in the input that is combusted to CO₂;
• $EF_{fuel}$ = the emission factor, expressed in tCO₂e/unit, selected in accordance with the rules in Section 3.3.4.4;
• $CO_{2\ stored,fossil}$ = minus the quantity of fossil CO₂ from fuel combustion at the biochar production facility captured and permanently stored at a site permitted under Directive 2009/31/EC;
• $fuels$ = an index of the fuels consumed.

$CH_{4\ release}$ refers to any emission into the atmosphere of methane generated by the biochar production process. CH₄ emissions shall be measured at least twice per production unit during the first Certification Period with an interval of at least a third of the Certification Period, and measured in grams of methane emission per kilogram of biochar production.

If these measurements are consistent, the average of the measurements may be taken as characteristic of the production unit. CH₄ emissions measurements shall be considered consistent if either:

1. both measurements demonstrate that CH₄ is only emitted at trace levels, defined as a level of CH₄ emissions that would amount to less than 1% of $CR_{total}$ if continued for the entire Certification Period and expressed in tCO₂e on a GWP 100 basis;
2. the measured level is similar for the two measurements, defined as the higher of the two measurements being not more than 40% above the lower measurement.

If the measurements are not consistent, additional measurements shall be taken until a reliable estimate of average CH₄ emissions is established. In the case that CH₄ emissions above a trace level are identified, the Operator shall produce and implement a CH₄ reduction plan to eliminate these emissions that shall be measured again in the subsequent Certification Period. If CH₄ emissions are found to be emitted at only trace levels, such measured level may be taken as representative for that production unit for the following five years, after which CH₄ emissions shall be measured again.

$GHG_{elec}$ refers to emissions due to electricity consumption at the biochar production facility, calculated in accordance with Equation 52.

$$GHG_{elec} = \sum_{electricity source} Q_{elec} \cdot EF_{elec}$$

(Equation 52)

Where:

• $Q_{elec}$ = the net quantity of electricity consumed in the Certification Period, selected in accordance with Section 3.3.2, expressed in an appropriate unit;
• $EF_{elec}$ = the emission factor for the consumed electricity, expressed in tCO₂e/unit, selected in accordance with Section 3.3.4.1;
• $electricity source$ = an index across electricity sources.

$GHG_{heat}$ refers to emissions due to net consumption of useful heat at the biochar producing facility, calculated in accordance with Equation 53.

$$GHG_{heat} = \sum_{heat sources} Q_{heat} \cdot EF_{heat}$$

(Equation 53)

Where:

• $Q_{heat}$ = the net quantity of useful heat consumed in the Certification Period for the biochar production process, selected in accordance with Section 3.3.2, expressed in an appropriate unit;
• $EF_{heat}$ = the emission factor for the consumed heat, expressed in tCO₂e/unit, selected in accordance with Section 3.3.4.2;
• $heat source$ = an index of all utilised external heat sources.

$GHG_{capital}$ refers to capital emissions from construction and installation of the biochar production facility and shall be calculated in accordance with the principles detailed in Section 3.3.5.

$GHG_{disposal}$ refers to emissions from the treatment or disposal of any wastes generated by the biochar production facility. This shall include emissions associated with the supply of any energy and inputs consumed in the course of waste disposal and any other GHG emissions associated with the disposal process including emissions of N₂O and/or CH₄ due to aerobic or anaerobic degradation of biogenic wastes. Isometric may allow Activities to estimate disposal emissions where direct measurement would be unduly burdensome, and Operators may use default values for disposal emissions where these are provided by Isometric for specific activity types.

Where there are inputs including chemicals, but excluding anything within the scope of capital emissions, consumed by the biochar production facility, other than fuels that are considered in the $GHG_{combustion}$ term, the emissions associated with the consumption of these inputs during the Certification Period shall be calculated in accordance with Equation 54.

$$GHG_{inputs} = \sum_{inputs} Q_{input} \cdot EF_{input}$$

(Equation 54)

Where:

• $Q_{input}$ = the quantity of the input consumed in the Certification Period, expressed in an appropriate unit;
• $EF_{input}$ = the emission factor for the input consumed, expressed in tCO₂e/unit, selected in accordance with Section 3.3.4.4.

The Operator may group any number of inputs whose collective emissions are considered non material on the basis of a materiality assessment and substitute for them an emission term equal to $1\% \cdot CR_{total}$ (cf. section 3.1.3), i.e. a group of inputs for which when taking a high end estimate of expected associated emissions, in accordance with Equation 55.

$$\sum_{inputs} Q_{input} \cdot EF_{input} < 1\% \cdot CR_{total}$$

(Equation 55)

Where CO₂ capture of biogenic CO₂ is implemented at the biochar production facility, this shall not be counted as a negative emission in $GHG_{associated}$ but may be eligible for certification as a BioCCS carbon removal activity.

In accordance with Section 2.3.3, Operators shall include in the Monitoring Report before each Re-Certification Audit the measured or calculated parameters listed in Table 7. Where a parameter is noted as to be monitored, it shall be included in the Monitoring Plan in accordance with Section 2.3.2.

If a quantity of biochar is produced during one Certification Period but applied or incorporated in a later Certification Period, the emissions and removals associated with that quantity of biochar shall be recorded in the later Certification Period.

Table 7: Parameters for inclusion in the Monitoring Report.

This section provides rules for the quantification of GHG emissions associated with biochar transportation. Any emissions associated with biomass or biomass fuel transportation from the point of harvest/collection to the biochar production facility do not fall under this section, but shall be included in the term $GHG_{bio}$ in equation 49.

Following the principles in Section 3.3.4.5, GHG emissions associated with the transport of biochar, $GHG_{transport}$, shall either be calculated based on actual data on fuel consumption in accordance with Equation 56 or based on vehicle efficiencies and actual data about vehicle distance travelled in accordance with Equation 57. Operators are permitted to use different approaches for different transport modes, in which case $GHG_{transport}$ shall be calculated as the sum of the emissions calculated with each approach.

$$GHG_{transport} = \sum_{trips} (Q_{fuel} \cdot EF_{fuel})$$

(Equation 56)

Where:

• $Q_{fuel}$ = the quantity of fuel consumed for each trip, including empty return trips, expressed in an appropriate unit;
• $EF_{fuel}$ = the emission factor for the consumed fuel, expressed in tCO₂e/unit, selected in accordance with the rules in Section 3.3.4.4;
• $trips$ = an index of the trips taken.

$$GHG_{transport} = \left( \sum_{L=1}^{O} (K_L \cdot EF_{vehicle,loaded}) + \sum_{L=1}^{R} (K_L \cdot EF_{vehicle,unloaded}) \right)$$

(Equation 57)

Where:

• $K_L$ = the distance of each trip in kilometres;
• $EF_{vehicle,loaded}$ = the CO₂ emissions per kilometre of the vehicle when loaded, in tCO₂e/km travelled. This may be based on an appropriate conservative default emission factor if it has been provided by Isometric;
• $EF_{vehicle,unloaded}$ = the CO₂ emissions per kilometre of the vehicle when unloaded, tCO₂e/km travelled. This may be based on an appropriate conservative default emission factor if it has been provided by Isometric. If no data/default is available for the unloaded vehicle but a value is available for $EF_{vehicle,loaded}$, then the operator may set $EF_{vehicle,unloaded}$ = $EF_{vehicle,loaded}$;
• $O$ = the total number of outbound trips taken;
• $R$ = the total number of empty return trips taken;
• $L$ = an index of the trips.

In accordance with Section 2.3.3, operators shall include in the Monitoring Report before each Re-Certification Audit the measured or calculated parameters listed in Table 8. Where a parameter is noted as to be monitored, it shall be included in the Monitoring Plan in accordance with Section 2.3.2.

Table 8: Parameters for inclusion in the Monitoring Report.

This section provides rules for the quantification of the permanence fraction of the CO₂ removals generated by the BCR activity and GHG emissions associated with the application of biochar to soils or incorporation of biochar to products.

The permanence fraction of the biochar, $F_{perm}$, may be calculated using one of the approaches described below.

Operators may choose for each production batch which approach to use to calculate the permanence fraction, but may not combine elements of these two approaches to assess the permanence of a single production batch.

Operators using this option shall submit at least three random samples from each production batch of biochar for random reflectance assessment at a qualified laboratory. The reflectance assessment shall involve two analytical elements:

1. part of each sample shall be thermochemically analysed to identify the reactive organic carbon fraction, $F_{reactive}$. This analysis shall involve heating the sample to identify the fraction of the material that is subject to thermal decomposition when heated to high temperature. The laboratory shall use a methodology consistent with best practice.
2. part of each sample shall be analysed with incident light microscopy to measure the random reflectance of the non-reactive solid fraction, and identify the fraction of the sample that has a random reflectance, $R_o$, of at least 2%. Isometric may require the Operator to use a specific laboratory method for this analysis, which should be consistent with current science and best practice. If the Isometric does not specify a method, the Operator shall use a laboratory method that meets the specifications stated below. In the analysis, each sample shall be prepared by embedding crushed particles from the sample in a resin, grinding and polishing one of the faces of the resulting pellet and assessing the reflectance by taking 500 point measurements per sample, evenly distributed across the polished surface. A distribution shall be fitted to these point measurements using kernel density estimation with a univariate Gaussian kernel, where given a set of measured $R_o$ values $x1$, $x2$, $x3$, … , $x500$ the fitted function shall be defined:

$$\hat{f}(x) = \frac{1}{500h} \sum_{i=1}^{500} K \frac{(x - x_i)}{h}$$

Where:

• $\hat{f}(x)$ = the estimated probability density function at point x;
• $h$ = the bandwidth, a smoothing parameter that determines the width of the kernel and is to be calculated $h = 0.9 \cdot min \Big(σR_{o,} \frac{IQR}{1.34} \Big) \cdot 500^{-0.2}$ where $σ_{R_o}$ is the standard deviation of the $R_o$ values and $IQR$ their inter-quartile range;
• $K(u)$ = the Gaussian kernel function $K(u) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi}}e^{\frac{u^2}{2}}$ where $u=\frac{(x-x_i)}{h}$.

The fraction of the non-reactive material with a $R_o$ greater than 2%, $F_{R_{o \gt 2 \%}}$, shall then be calculated by numerical integration of the fitted function using the composite Simpson’s 1/3 rule to estimate the value of the integral of the probability function for $R_o$ > 2%.

$$F_{R_{o \gt 2 \%}} = \int_{2\%}^{\inf} \hat{f}(x)dx$$

(Equation 59)

The permanence fraction in each submitted sample $i$ of biochar shall then be calculated as:

$$F_{perm_i} = (1 − F_{reactive_i}) \cdot F_{R_{o \gt 2\%_i}}$$

(Equation 60)

For a number of tested samples $n$, the estimated permanence fraction of the sampled biochar shall be calculated as the arithmetic mean of the permanence fractions measured for each sample:

$$F_{perm} = \frac{\sum_{1}^{n}F_{perm_i}}{n}$$

(Equation 61)

For the purpose of the uncertainty assessment required in section 3.3.6, the assessment of $F_{perm}$ by the random reflectance method shall be treated as having an associated uncertainty calculated in accordance with Equation 62.

$$Uncertainty_{F_{perm}} = 1.65 \cdot \frac{\sigma_{\overline{R_o}}}
{\psi_{\overline{R_o}} \cdot \sqrt{n}} + 2.5 \%$$

(Equation 62)

Where:

• $\sigma_{\overline{R_o}}$ = the standard deviation of the mean value of $R_o$ for each of the $n$ samples;
• $\psi_{\overline{R_o}}$ = the arithmetic mean of the mean value of $R_o$ for each of the $n$ samples;
• $2.5\%$ = a conservatism factor.

This approach consists in the application of a decay function parameterised by the $H/C_{org}$ ratio of the biochar, which shall always be less than or equal to 0.7, and the annual average temperature at its location of application or incorporation, i.e. soil temperature for application to soils and air temperature for incorporation in products.

Operators using this option for permanence assessment shall use the $H/C_{org}$ ratio for the biochar and the expected average temperature for the location of biochar application or incorporation (soil temperature in the case of application, air temperature in the case of incorporation) to calculate $F_{perm}$ in accordance with Equation 63 using the appropriate parameters $m$ and $c$ from Table 9, rounding temperature up to the next 5°C interval. This estimates the remaining carbon after 200 years using the decay data documented by Woolf et al. (2021).

$$F_{perm} = m \cdot H/C_{org} + c$$

(Equation 63)

Where:

• $H/C_{org}$ = the ratio of hydrogen to organic carbon in the biochar production batch;
• $m$ = a parameter for the linear part of the modeled relationship between $H/C_{org}$ ratio and permanence;
• $c$ = a parameter for the constant part of the modeled relationship between $H/C_{org}$ ratio and permanence.

Table 9: Parameters for calculating $F_{perm}$.

For the purpose of the uncertainty assessment required in section 3.3.6, the assessment of $F_{perm}$ by the decay function method shall be treated as having an associated uncertainty of zero, as the decay function is already considered a conservative basis for estimation.

The GHG emissions associated with the application and/or incorporation of biochar into soils and products across one or more application or incorporation sites shall be calculated in accordance with Equation 64. Only emissions that are directly related to the use of the biochar shall be included. In the case that biochar is intermixed with another material, such as fertiliser, prior to application or incorporation, emissions associated with producing and handling those second materials shall not be included, and the emissions from application or incorporation shall be allocated on a mass basis.

$$GHG_{use} = \sum{S}(F_S \cdot GHG_{biochar site,S})$$

(Equation 64)

Where:

• $F_S$ = the mass fraction of the biochar from the activity in the total mass of soil amendment applied to soils or of material incorporated into products at each site. The total mass includes the biochar from the activity, any biochar sourced from other activities for use at the same site, and any other materials intermixed with the biochar;
• $GHG_{biochar site,S}$ = defined in Equation 65.

The GHG emissions associated with application or incorporation at each site shall be calculated in accordance with Equation 65.

$$GHG_{biochar site} = GHG_{combustion} + GHG_{elec} + GHG_{heat}$$

(Equation 65)

Where:

• $GHG_{combustion}$ = the GHG emissions due to fuel consumption at the application or incorporation site, including by vehicles and mobile equipment, in tCO₂e, calculated in accordance with Equation 66;
• $GHG_{elec}$ = the GHG emissions due to electricity consumption at the application or incorporation site in tCO₂e., calculated in accordance with Equation 67;
• $GHG_{heat}$ = the GHG emissions due to heat consumption at the application or incorporation site, in tCO₂e., calculated in accordance with Equation 68.

$$GHG_{combustion} = \sum{fuels} Q_{fuel} \cdot EF_{fuel}$$

(Equation 66)

Where:

• $Q_{fuel}$ = the quantity of the fuel consumed in the Certification Period, expressed in appropriate units;
• $EF_{fuel}$ = the emission factor for the fuel consumed, expressed in tCO₂e/unit, selected in accordance with Section 3.3.4.4.

$$GHG_{elec} = \sum{electricity source} Q_{elec} \cdot EF_{elec}$$

(Equation 67)

Where:

• $Q_{elec}$ = the net quantity of electricity consumed in the Certification Period, selected in accordance with Section 3.3.2, expressed in appropriate units;
• $EF_{elec}$ = the emission factor for the consumed electricity, expressed in tCO₂e/unit selected in accordance with Section 3.3.4.1.

$$GHG_{heat} = \sum{heat source} Q_{heat} \cdot EF_{heat}$$

(Equation 68)

Where:

• $Q_{heat}$ = the net quantity of useful heat consumed in the Certification Period selected in accordance with Section 3.3.2, expressed in appropriate unit;
• $EF_{heat}$ = the emission factor for the consumed heat, expressed in tCO₂e/unit, selected in accordance with Section 3.3.4.2.

Operators may use default values per tonne of material applied or incorporated for specified application or incorporation methods for any of the quantities $Q_{fuel}$, $Q_{elec}$ and $Q_{heat}$ where such default values are provided by Isometric.

In accordance with Section 2.3.3, Operators shall include in the Monitoring Report before each Re-Certification Audit the measured or calculated parameters listed in Table 10. Where a parameter is noted as to be monitored, it shall be included in the Monitoring Plan in accordance with Section 2.3.2.

Table 10: Parameters for inclusion in the Monitoring Report.

The quantification of associated GHG emissions shall be complete and cover all process and combustion emissions from all material emission sources and source streams belonging to the permanent carbon removal activities and all other relevant emissions.

Where an Operator or the Certification Body identifies emissions from a source, or from a group of sources, associated with an Activity that are material but are not covered by the present methodology, the Operator shall ensure that such emissions are included in the calculation of the associated GHG emissions.

Unless otherwise stated, all emission sources identified in these rules shall be assessed and shall be included in the calculation of $GHG_{associated}$, even if they do not reach the level of Materiality described here.

There are two potential exceptions to this principle, contexts in which a Materiality assessment may be undertaken and emissions assessed as being below the Materiality threshold do not need to be directly assessed. These contexts are capital emissions (Section 3.3.5), and input emissions (Section 3.1.5.5).

A Materiality assessment may also be required, as noted above, if the Operator or the Certification Body identified emissions from a source that is associated with the Activity but is not explicitly identified in the present methodology. Where a Materiality assessment is required on a specified emission source or group of emission sources, the Operator shall present to the Certification Body an estimate of the potential range of emissions across the Activity Period associated with that source. If the emissions at the high end of this range are equal to or greater than 1 % of the Net Removals delivered, or expected to be delivered, over the course of the Activity Period, then the emissions from that source are considered potentially material and shall be directly assessed.

At the Certification Audit Operators shall carry out the Materiality assessment based on expected emissions and removals over the Activity Period, and the basis for concluding that any emissions are immaterial shall be described in the Activity plan.

At Re-Certification Audits the Certification Body shall assess whether there has been a significant deviation from the operational conditions declared at the Certification Audits. If such a deviation is identified Operators shall carry out the Materiality assessment again.

Any energy recovery resulting from process configurations may lead to a reduction in the additional net consumption of a specified type of energy or a shift in net demand from one energy type to another. Therefore, for the calculation of net electricity or net useful heat consumption, Operators shall assess the overall change in demand after such recovery processes have been implemented.

The calculation of net consumption shall exclude any electricity or heat both produced and consumed on-site at the biochar production facility or the storage site or for the transport infrastructure. Emissions associated with electricity or heat generated on-site at a facility shall be accounted for separately by consideration of the fuel consumed. The overall change in demand corresponds to the difference between the quantity of electricity or heat imported from outside the facility for use directly by the Activity and the quantity of electricity or heat that is exported for other uses that was recovered from processes directly required for the Activity, including downstream processes such as CO₂ liquefaction. The calculation of net electricity or net useful heat consumption shall not include any heat or electricity that is produced specifically for export from the facility rather than recovered from a necessary process.

Where the net quantity of consumed heat or electricity is less than the gross quantity and this heat or electricity originates from more than one source, $Q_{heat/elec,net,source}$, the net consumption from each source shall be calculated proportionally so that:

$$Q_{heat/elec,net,source} = Q_{heat/elec,gross,source} \cdot \frac{\sum_{sources} Q_{heat/elec,net,source}}{\sum_{sources} Q_{heat/elec,gross,source}}$$

(Equation 69)

Where:

• $Q_{heat/elec,gross,source}$ = the gross quantity of electricity or useful heat from a given source consumed in the Certification Period;
• $Sources$ = the index of sources of heat or electricity.

In the case of a net increase in availability of a type of energy as a result of energy recovery, the quantity ($Q_{heat}$ or $Q_{elec}$) may be reported as a negative value. Operators shall ensure that any above-mentioned negative quantity is substantiated through correct process assumptions. In the case that one or both of the terms $Q_{heat}$ or $Q_{elec}$ calculated for a process element is negative, then the accompanying emission factor ($EF_{heat}$ or $EF_{elec}$) shall be set to zero (i.e., there shall never be a negative term for $GHG_{heat}$ or $GHG_{elec}$).

Additional biomass consumption refers to the biomass, biofuel, bioliquid and biomass fuel that is consumed specifically to provide energy for a carbon capture process. In the case that heat is recovered from an existing biomass-based process whose primary aim is not the production of heat or electricity, and is used by the biochar production facility, this shall not be treated as a form of additional biomass consumption and shall instead be assessed using an emission factor for the consumed heat following Section 3.3.4.3.

The emission factor applied in the calculation of emissions associated with any net electricity consumption ($EF_{elec}$) shall be calculated in accordance with paragraphs 5 and 6 of Part A of the Annex to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1185.

By way of derogation from the first paragraph:

1. the calculation period for the electricity emissions factor may be less than a calendar year and may span across parts of two calendar years. The Certification Period includes only part of one or two calendar years:
2. if the Certification Period falls entirely within a single calendar year, the electricity emission factor shall be calculated either based on data for the exact Certification Period or on data for the full calendar year;
3. if the Certification Period spans across two calendar years, an electricity emission factor shall be calculated for electricity consumed in each of those calendar years either based on data for the exact part of the Certification Period falling in each year or on data for the full calendar years.
4. for any Activity based on a new biochar production facility for which a final investment decision is made and construction has started no later than 31 December 2029, and for which the Operator claims a zero emission factor for consumed electricity on the basis that the electricity is fully renewable, then if the Operator is required to demonstrate temporal correlation between the consumption and generation of the renewable electricity that temporal correlation may be assessed on an annual basis instead of on an hourly basis until 31 December 2044 or the end of the first Activity Period, whichever is sooner.

Operators may choose the approach to attribute greenhouse gas emissions values to the electricity for each source of consumed electricity independently, i.e. they are not required to use the same approach for setting the emission factor for electricity consumed in different locations.

Isometric may provide lists of up to date electricity emissions intensity values at the bidding zone level. In the case of net electricity export (a negative value for $Q_{elec}$) the emission factor shall be zero.

Paragraphs 5 Part A of the Annex : Electricity qualifying as fully renewable according to Article 27(3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, shall be attributed zero greenhouse gas emissions.Paragraphs 6 Part A of the Annex: One of the three following alternative methods shall be applied during each calendar year to attribute greenhouse gas emissions values to the electricity taken from the grid that does not qualify as fully renewable according to Article 27(3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 and is used to produce renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin and recycled carbon fuels:(a)greenhouse gas emissions values shall be attributed according to part C of this Annex. This is without prejudice to the assessment under State aid rules;(b)greenhouse gas emissions values shall be attributed depending on the number of full load hours the installation producing renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin and recycled carbon fuels is operating. Where the number of full load hours is equal or lower than the number of hours in which the marginal price of electricity was set by installations producing renewable electricity or nuclear power plants in the preceding calendar year for which reliable data are available, grid electricity used in the production process of renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin and recycled carbon fuels shall be attributed a greenhouse gas emissions value of zero gCO₂eq/MJ. Where this number of full load hours is exceeded, grid electricity used in the production process of renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin and recycled carbon fuels shall be attributed a greenhouse gas emissions value of 183 gCO₂eq/MJ; or(c)the greenhouse gas emissions value of the marginal unit generating electricity at the time of the production of the renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin in the bidding zone may be used if this information is publicly available from the national transmission system operator.If the method set in point (b) is used, it shall also be applied to electricity that is used to produce renewable liquid and gaseous transport fuels of non-biological origin and recycled carbon fuels and qualifies as fully renewable according to Article 27(3) of Directive (EU) 2018/2001, Article 27(3) - Calculation rules with regard to the minimum shares of renewable energy in the transport sector.

The following emission factors shall be applied in the calculation of emissions associated with any net heat consumption:

1. for heat that is recovered from a process that is part of the Activity: there are no additional emissions;
2. for heat that is generated by combustion of fossil fuels: lifecycle emission factors for fossil fuel supply and combustion set out in the latest version of the Joint Research center document Definition of input data to assess GHG default emissions from biofuels in EU legislation divided by the thermal efficiency of the heat generation process;
3. for heat that is generated from biomass, biofuel, bioliquid or biomass fuel other than the case of own-heat consumption by a facility capturing CO₂ from biomass consumption for energy generation: emission factors for the supply and combustion (excluding CO₂ from combustion) of the biomass, biofuel, bioliquid or biomass fuel used, calculated in accordance with Annex VI to Directive (EU) 2018/2001 divided by the thermal efficiency of the heat generation process;
4. for heat that is generated from non-biomass renewable sources: the emission factor is equal to zero;
5. for heat from nuclear energy production: the emission factor is equal to zero;
6. for heat that is recovered from a process from which heat was not previously recovered until a maximum of three months prior to the start of the Activity): emission factor is equal to zero;
7. for heat that is recovered from a process from which heat was already recovered or from a new process, i.e., a process coming into operation less than 6 months prior to the start of the Activity, and that process is not directly related to the Activity: the emission factor shall be set to the EU ETS benchmark emission factor for heat;
8. for heat that is supplied from a heat network: the emission factor shall be set to the EU ETS benchmark emission factor for heat.

In the case of net heat export (a negative value for $Q_{heat}$) the emission factor will be zero.

When biomass, biofuel, bioliquid or biomass fuel meeting the sustainability requirements set out in Article 29 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 is consumed for an Activity (see Section 3.1.5.4.1), any CO₂ produced by chemical processes from the carbon atoms therein contained shall be accounted for with a CO₂ emission factor equal to zero, but the supply chain emissions for provision of the biomass, biofuel, bioliquid or biomass fuel shall be accounted for, and any non-CO₂ emissions associated with biomass combustion (primarily CH₄ and N₂O) shall be accounted for.

The emission factor applied in the calculation of supply chain emissions associated with any consumption of biomass, biofuel, bioliquid or biomass fuel for the Activity shall be calculated in accordance with the rules for calculating the GHG emissions associated with biomass, biofuel, bioliquid or biomass fuel supply set out in Annex V and Annex VI to Directive (EU) 2018/2001, considering the emissions up to the point of consumption associated with the terms $e_{ec}$, $e_l$ and $e_p$ as defined in those requirements, plus emissions associated with transport (see next paragraph), and converting where necessary from emissions per unit of energy produced by a bioenergy facility to emissions per unit of feedstock consumed. As in Directive (EU) 2018/2001, wastes and residues shall be considered to have zero life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions up to the process of collection of those materials. For municipal waste, post-consumer wood waste and sewage sludge the ‘process of collection’ for the purposes of emissions calculation under Regulation (EU) 2024/3012 shall be understood to start only when the material is deposited at the facility at which the CO₂ capture Activity will be implemented (for example at an energy recovery facility).

Emissions for transport of the biomass, biofuel, bioliquid or biomass fuel to the biochar production facility shall be calculated based on the actual distance travelled and mode of transport, whereby the disaggregated default emission factors listed for the $e_{td}$ term shall not be used. With regard to indirect land-use change (ILUC) emissions, the requirements set in Section 5.3.1 prevent the increase in the consumption of food and feed crops or food and feed-crop based biofuels, bioliquids or biomass fuels to supply on-site heat or electricity used for the CO₂ capture process and therefore ILUC emissions shall be set to zero.

Isometric may provide guidance on the calculation for feedstocks that do not have disaggregated default values in the Annexes to Directive (EU) 2018/2001.

Where the quantification rules require the calculation of emissions associated with the use of inputs to that Activity, including fossil fuels and materials used in the construction of capital equipment, lifecycle emission factors for those inputs shall be taken either from lists of default factors provided by Isometric or from the following hierarchical list of sources, sourcing the emission factors from the first source in the list from which it is available and using, where available, the most recent version of the sources:

1. part B of the Annex to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1185;
2. the most recent version of the Environmental Footprint datasets, or EF-compliant datasets;
3. the Joint Research center document, Definition of input data to assess GHG default emissions from biofuels in EU legislation;
4. the JEC Well-to-Wheels report;
5. the ECOINVENT database, version 3.5 or a more recent version, or other comparable commercial databases;
6. official sources such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), International Energy Agency (IEA), or government;
7. other reviewed sources or peer-reviewed publications.

Where access to any databases under point (5) is not possible, Operators may rely on points (6) or (7) above.

The lifecycle emission factors shall reflect the emissions associated with supplying those inputs up to the point of use by the Activity. If necessary, emission factors taken from these sources shall be adjusted to exclude any carbon contained within the input material itself. If such carbon is oxidised and emitted as a result of processes associated with the Activity this shall be counted as an emission source directly. The use of data from divergent sources may lead to slight inconsistencies in the scope of lifecycle accounting applied to different inputs. Operators are not required to recalculate data from these sources to achieve full consistency in lifecycle scope across the utilised input data.

Isometric may provide lists of default conservative emission factors. This may include emission factors available from sources in the hierarchical list above. If there is uncertainty in the best estimate of these values or if some degree of variability can be expected in these values, such default emission factors shall be set conservatively, i.e. be set in such a way that the use of those default emission factors is likely to lead to a marginal underestimation of delivered net carbon removals. Where standard deviation is quoted for a value, the default shall be set to the mean value plus one standard deviation. Where a 95% confidence interval is quoted for a value, the default value shall be set halfway between the mean value and the 95% confidence limit. These adjustments shall always be made in the direction that reduces the estimated net carbon removal benefit for an Activity. Default emission factors shall be treated as having no associated uncertainty in the calculation specified in Section 3.3.6.

The GHG intensities of inputs other than electricity are shown in the table below: