The new version of Puro Standard Biochar carbon removal methodology – edition 2022 – is ready to be used!

In May 2019, – just when the IPCC(1) refined their guidelines to include biochar, we developed the first biochar methodology for carbon removal in the market and started using it for verifying biochar projects and issuing CO2 Removal Certificates, CORCs.

During these 2.5 years we have been fortunate to gather feedback and learn from our global biochar producers, scientific experts, pioneering CORC buyers, as well as auditors in Europe, Australia and the Americas. All of these learnings are now captured in the updated methodology.

The main advancement that has taken place is in the science on how biochar permanence in soils is quantified, with the methodology setting a minimum permanence of 100 years. The research(2) by Woolf, Lehmann and colleagues was published in October 2021 and the results are now in use in chapter 4 of the new methodology.

The 2022 edition also allows more biomass sources and different technology types to be certified. Therefore, more projects can join the Puro.earth marketplace, and more carbon can be removed from the atmosphere globally. 

What has not changed are the Puro Standard principles, which remain as follows:

• We require that methane is not emitted to the atmosphere while making biochar 
• We require that biomass is sustainably sourced 
• We require project specific data and laboratory results are updated every year

 The Puro Standard Biochar edition 2019 is valid until July 1st, 2022 for projects that already started the verification process. 

We are proud to present you the methodology document. We encourage current and potential biochar producers to read it and engage with us to become a supplier in the Puro.earth carbon removal marketplace to monetize their climate service.

1. 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories 
2. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Model for Biochar Additions to Soil Environmental Science & Technology 2021, 55 (21), 14795-14805. Dominic Woolf, Johannes Lehmann, Stephen Ogle, Ayaka W. Kishimoto-Mo, Brian McConkey, and Jeffrey Baldock.

Are you ready to include carbon removal in your climate actions? Welcome to learn more about our suppliers and don't hesitate to contact us.