Work with us as a Biochar supplier

We've combined requirements from our modular protocol framework outlining everything you need to be validated as a Biochar supplier.

To assess your project's suitability for crediting under this protocol, get in touch with us via the form below.

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Overview

Where do requirements come from?

Isometric Standardv2.1->Biochar Production and StorageProtocolv1.3->Biochar Production in Combustion Co-product SystemsModulev1.0->Biochar Production in Distributed and Small Scale ProjectsModulev1.1->Biochar Production in Mobile ReactorsModulev1.0->Biochar Storage in the Built EnvironmentModulev1.1->Biochar Storage in Low Oxygen Burial EnvironmentsModulev1.1->Biochar Storage in Soil EnvironmentsModulev1.3->Energy Use AccountingModulev1.3->GHG AccountingModulev1.1->

List of Biochar requirements

Table of contents

Project setup

Essential project details including who's involved, the location of your project, and how much carbon it will mitigate.

GHG accounting

How will your project account for greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation.

Projects must declare every co-product and by-product produced by the process, and select the emissions allocation approach applied: (1) allocate all emissions to CDR (Procedure 1); or (2) apply a co-product allocation rule (Procedure 2, 3 or 4), specifying which procedure. Projects must clearly state where a different allocation procedure was used, as indicated by the governing Protocol or Module.

Conditional: Where Procedure 3 or 4 is used, projects must provide at every relevant verification the pre-allocation GHG Statement, the allocation calculations and evidence, the eligibility-criteria documentation, and (Procedure 4) tracking and corrective-mechanism details.

Conditional: Where Procedure 2 (subdivision) is used, projects must confirm that EC1 (retrofit) or EC2 (physically separable) is satisfied and provide the corresponding Table 5 documentation.

Conditional: Where Procedure 3 (substitution) is used, projects must confirm both EC3 (net negativity) and EC4 (no double counting) are satisfied and that full facility GHG emissions are included before the method is applied.

Projects must report the quantity and type of all marketed co-products and confirm the substitution method is applied to only one co-product.

Projects must calculate substituted emissions in accordance with the following rules: include differences in efficiencies; select a EF_Substituted which is conservative, from a Reputable Source, and approved by Isometric; apply a 50% (or lower, where applicable) uncertainty discount; quantify and subtract downstream emissions associated with the co-product where applicable.

Projects must submit a Decarbonisation Statement identifying feasible decarbonisation options, evidence of efforts to implement them, and a forward-looking plan, updated annually.

Conditional: Where the co-product leads to Crediting with Isometric, projects must apply carbon-mass-balance allocation (procedure 4) and confirm both EC5 (credible pathway) and EC6 (crediting within 12 months) are satisfied.

Conditional: Where Procedure 4 (carbon mass balance) is used, where the co-product is not credited within 12 months, projects must apply a corrective action (reallocate the full emissions burden to the primary product, or retrospectively apply an alternative allocation method), carry forward any deficit, and document it for the VVB at the next verification.

Conditional: Where CO2 is stored in a product, projects must apply the co-product allocation requirements and confirm CO2e_Stored is not double-counted, including in any EPD or marketing claim.

Quantification & design

How will you measure, monitor and assure the carbon you mitigate, including data models and risk assessments.

Projects must demonstrate Financial Additionality by evidencing removals and/or reductions are the main purpose and only source of revenue; OR demonstrating that economic barriers would prevent project implementation in the absence of carbon finance.

In order to demonstrate economic barriers would prevent The Project implementation in the absence of Carbon Finance, projects must provide full Project financials, calculate return on investment via internal rate of return (IRR) and a scenario analysis to demonstrate the ability to meet Additionality criteria for cases where values in the analysis change.

The analysis should be completed for a 10-year period, or if another length of time is chosen, justification must be given based on project circumstances. Non-depreciated residual values of any equipment or [assets](#definitions-and-acronyms-asset) must be included as positive cash flows in the final year.

Projects must briefly describe any government subsidies, public financing or tax incentives received and take these into account as a revenue stream.

The IRR analysis must also include a scenario analysis that demonstrates the ability to meet the above Additionality criteria for cases where values in the analysis change. Scenario analyses must include variation of initial investment costs, if greater than 20% of total Project costs; variation of projected revenues to consider market changes for products or fees charged; and evaluation of any assumption, value, or projection that accounts for greater than 20% of Project costs or Project revenues, or any value that impacts less than 20% of costs or revenues but which The Project Proponent determines can have significant impact (>10%) on IRR.

IRR analysis must meet further requirements including being completed in accordance with GAAP principles, providing appropriate evidence for key assumptions, expressing cash flows and the selected benchmark on a consistent basis, and determining IRR and its benchmark on a matching basis.

Conditional: Where a Project uses Electricity EACs to reduce its electricity emissions, projects must account for the electricity generation emissions using the acceptable emission factor (f_p) and comply with Eligibility Criteria EC1-EC5.

Projects must declare whether the facility is an intensive facility (consuming more than 200 GWh of electricity per year) or a non-intensive facility, as this determines which Electricity EAC eligibility and calculation rules apply.

Conditional: Where an intensive facility cannot procure hourly-timestamped low-carbon power, projects may apply the non-intensive (annual-matching) calculation approach only where EC6 is met — the Project reached Final Investment Decision before 2030, evidenced by e.g. a signed decision to proceed, a signed EPC contract, or secured project financing.

Projects must obtain the electricity via contract purchase and provide the EAC purchase contract and retirement certificates; for intensive facilities, provide a Power Purchase Agreement identifying the physical source and type of generation, the location and grid region, the commissioning date, and the PPA date.

Projects must obtain and retire all EACs tied to the claimed electricity and provide the retirement certificates, except EACs required to be transferred to the load-serving entity under a Clean Electricity Standard (not exceeding the CES-attributable increase), with the applicable CES documentation.

Projects must demonstrate the generating facility entered service no more than 36 months before Project initiation, or qualifies as an eligible repower, stranded, or new-to-earth asset, with supporting evidence.

Projects must demonstrate the electricity is physically deliverable — the Project is directly connected to the generating facility, or both are within the same grid region — with location and grid-region documentation.

Projects must demonstrate temporal matching: non-intensive facilities — generation no more than 12 months before consumption (up to 18 months under evidenced market constraints); intensive facilities — hourly matching where possible, or no more than 12 months where FID was reached before 2030 and EC6 is met.

Enviro & social impact

How will your project affect people and nature, and how will you manage any risks that arise.

Stakeholder engagement

How will your project work with and respond to the community while staying compliant and adaptable.

Pathway processes

How will your project meet pathway-specific process requirements.

The Project Proponent must submit the required standard operating procedure (SOP) for the mobile kiln and expectations for how pyrolysis should be operated and take place. This must include:

Visual inspection of the reactor for cracks and imperfections after transit.

Checking the weigh scales and temperature sensors to ensure accuracy is maintained after transit.

Ensuring the reactor is operated on stable, level ground.

Projects must document in the PDD how contaminant levels that may impact soil quality and the surrounding environment will be monitored, including which contaminants will be monitored and the frequency of testing.

If soil quality or groundwater are demonstrated or anticipated to be adversely affected as a result of runoff from the DC, the Project must collaborate with land managers or owners to implement site storage management practices that maintain or enhance soil and groundwater quality, and provide technical support, training and resources to help relevant stakeholders adapt to any changes in soil conditions.

Application sites must have a landfill gas and methane emissions monitoring and management system in place, with appropriate emissions controls (such as a flare system) to minimise methane emissions. The system must be described in the PDD.

The project must provide details of a unified dMRV system for tracking biochar, and confirm it will 1) log data offline with tamper-proof timestamps 2) automatically flag data anomalies 3) upload locally stored data within 30 days and 4) has offline encrypted storage enablement

If projects are targeting 200-year durability, details on the method or approach used for annual average soil temperature calculation must be provided.

Projects may choose to Baseline their own annual soil temperature measurements, in order to ensure that the data used in the calculation for crediting comes from direct, project-specific measurements.

If no baselining data for soil temperature is available, a justifiable Tsoil for calculation of the durable fraction of biochar must be obtained from a global database of soil temperatures.

Projects must provide a clear chain of custody diagram or equivalent.

Projects must confirm the use of unique batch identification numbers.

Projects must confirm the use of documentation at each handover.

Projects must confirm a Record Retention Period.

Projects must provide detailed information on the following site characteristics and demonstrate that they pose limited risk to the Project. This must include consideration of 1) Surface water 2) Ground water 3) Local geology and 4) Seismicity

projects must site storage facilities outside the floodplain of all major waterways and arterial streams, based on the governmental flood maps with the longest available time duration

Where natural permeability of soils is impacted by the development of landfill sites, adequate drainage must be installed to transfer all precipitation and meltwater away from the site.

Projects must ensure that no pooling of water occurs within the waste disposal area where biochar has been deposited, except leachate transmission along the base liner and sump areas. Projects must immediately report to Isometric any standing water persisting beyond 48 hours after a precipitation event, and implement a permanent solution within 90 days.

Projects must apply modelling or additional conservative buffer zones where floodplain maps are based on 1,000-year storm scenarios or where future climate change is likely to materially affect site suitability.

Projects sited near existing water bodies (oceans, ponds, lakes) must use modelling to confirm the site will not be impacted over a 1,000-year period by sea level change or shifting precipitation patterns.

Project sites must be located outside the zone of influence of local groundwater and aquifers, both laterally and vertically. Site suitability evaluations and groundwater monitoring systems must be certified by a qualified groundwater scientist and comply with the sampling and analytical procedures in the site permit or applicable regulations. Projects must assess the general direction and magnitude of groundwater level change that may result from climate change

Projects must describe in the PDD the storage site's permeability, soil properties, hydraulic conductivity, plasticity, and sorption capacity, including how each property will be evaluated and addressed to ensure permanence of stored biochar.

Projects must characterise any material seismic risk in the vicinity of the storage site, including Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and Peak Ground Displacement (PGD).

Projects must justify in the PDD any deviations from the target values specified in Table 3

Project must provide a process and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) or engineering design diagram of the chemical reactor. The diagram must include all measurement sensors (e.g. temperature, pressure, flow) with labels identifying sensor type and location

The diagram must show reactor dimensions and overall layout.

The diagram must show locations of material inflows and outflows.

The diagram must show positions of sensors used to monitor temperature and pressure.

The diagram must show details of internal equipment, such as agitators or heating/cooling coils.

The diagram must show details of external heat transfer equipment, including heat exchange fluid entry and exit points, along with corresponding sensors for flow rate and temperature.

A sufficient number of viewpoints must be included in the engineering design diagram to show the positioning of all of the key components.

The diagram must show any other process equipment essential to the safe and effective operation of the pyrolyzer not listed should be included and highlighted in the engineering design diagram.

Projects must include detailed information on the selection of materials used for each reactor component, along with a justification of these choices from the perspectives of thermal and mechanical resilience.

For reactors operating at high pressure, the design must address: the operating pressure range and limits, the shape and size of the pressure vessel, the positioning of material inlets and outlets, and the placement of temperature and pressure sensors.

All design measures must comply with an appropriate local standard governing the design and fabrication of pressure vessels, such as 2014/68/EU (the Pressure Equipment Directive) or an equivalent regional standard applicable to The Project’s location.

If no suitable regional standard exists, Project Proponents are required to follow the 2014/68/EU standard.

Projects must describe and evidence an appropriate reactor maintenance plan.

Projects should include; procedures for monitoring mechanical and thermal degradation of reactor components, mitigation measures to address identified risks that could lead to vessel failure and preventive maintenance schedules.

If applicable, all maintenance activities must comply with an applicable local standard governing the inspection and maintenance of pressure vessels, such as 2014/68/EU (the Pressure Equipment Directive) or an equivalent regional standard relevant to The Project’s location. If no such regional standard exists, the 2014/68/EU standard must be applied.

If the reactor is at high pressure (>0.5 Bar above ambient pressure), projects must detect and quantify any loss of pyrolysis gases during operation either through flow sensors combined with a reactor model, continuous pressure monitoring, or annual testing through an accredited leakage testing authority.

If using flow sensors, Projects must confirm the presence of sensors at the flue gas outlet to measure the outflow of pyrolysis gases and combined with a validated reactor model.

If using continuous measurement of system pressure, projects must demonstrate that the pressure of the reactor vessel during project operations is consistently sub-atmospheric and measured using a calibrated sensor.

If using regular leakage testing, Projects must confirm testing will be conducted according to prevailing national/international standards, and/or by an accredited leakage testing authority, for example in compliance with ASTM E1003-13(2022), or an equivalent standard. Leakage testing must be conducted at least once every 12 months.