Carbon Markets
VM0044 Biochar Carbon Projects
How to quantify and verify carbon removal from biochar under the VCS
About this course
Why this course exists
A practical course on Verra's VM0044 methodology for biochar utilization in soil and non-soil applications. Covers the full biochar value chain from waste biomass sourcing through pyrolysis production to final application, including eligibility requirements, GHG quantification equations, permanence and reversal risk, leakage, additionality, and the monitoring plan. Written for project developers, carbon analysts, and verifiers.
What you will learn
After this course you will be able to
- Walk through the Verra VM0044 methodology for biochar carbon projects
- Estimate biochar permanence using the H/C ratio approach
- Calculate net GHG removals from a biochar project including soil application
- Compare biochar to other carbon dioxide removal pathways on cost and durability
Course content
5 modules · 13 lessons
Walk through the modules in order or jump to a specific lesson. Each lesson is a real chapter you can open and start reading immediately.
Module 1·2 lessons
Foundations of Biochar Carbon Projects
What biochar is, how it stores carbon, and how VM0044 works
Module 2·3 lessons
Eligibility: Who and What Qualifies
Feedstocks, technologies and end-use applications that are in scope
- 1.111 min read
Eligible Feedstocks and Sustainability Criteria
VM0044 v1.2 Section 4 (Applicability Conditions) — Table 1; Appendix 2
- 1.27 min read
Eligible End-Use Applications: Soil and Non-Soil
VM0044 v1.2 Section 4 (Applicability Conditions 9-15)
- 1.36 min read
High Technology vs Low Technology Production Facilities
VM0044 v1.2 Section 3 (Definitions — High/Low Technology); Section 4
Module 3·2 lessons
Project Boundary, Baseline and Additionality
What is included in the project and how additionality is demonstrated
Module 4·4 lessons
Quantifying Carbon Removals
The equations that turn biochar mass into verified tCO2e
- 3.16 min read
Production Stage: High Technology Facilities
VM0044 v1.2 Section 8.2.2.1; Equations 1-5; Table 3
- 3.26 min read
Production Stage: Low Technology Facilities
VM0044 v1.2 Section 8.2.2.2; Equations 6-10; Table 4
- 3.37 min read
Application Stage Emissions and Leakage
VM0044 v1.2 Section 8.2.3; Section 8.3; Equations 11-13
- 3.45 min read
Reversal Risk, Net Removals and the Final Equation
VM0044 v1.2 Section 8.4; Section 8.5; Equations 14-15
Module 5·2 lessons
Monitoring and Verification
What to measure, how to measure it, and how to prove it