Gold Standard's first biochar methodology locks in 200-year storage floor

Gold Standard published its first methodology for biochar-based carbon dioxide removal on Tuesday, setting a durability floor of 200 years and a storage ratio of at least five units of CO2 stored for every unit of emissions the activity generates.

The Geneva-based standards body calls the framework PARC — Production and Application for the Removal of Carbon via Biochar. It covers projects from manual kiln networks to industrial facilities and lets qualifying projects issue credits for carbon expected to stay locked in for at least two centuries.

That 5:1 threshold is the number that will decide who gets credits and who doesn't. Remove less than five tonnes of CO2 per tonne of emissions you cause, and the project doesn't qualify.

What does the methodology actually cover?

Biochar is a carbon-rich material made by heating biomass in low-oxygen conditions. It can go into soil, engineered materials or dedicated underground storage. PARC credits the carbon removed and stored this way — but it excludes emissions avoided through alternative uses of the biomass. Removals only, no avoidance counting.

The accounting is net. Removals are calculated after deducting emissions from biomass supply, production, transport and application, plus leakage and uncertainty. On top of that, projects must either contribute to a buffer pool or accept a risk deduction of at least 2.5%.

Gold Standard's chief executive, Margaret Kim, framed the launch as a question of rigor across scales: "Biochar has the potential to make a significant contribution to carbon removal, but realising that potential depends on rigorous methods that work across different production scales."

How are production scales split?

PARC sorts projects into three categories by throughput of dry biomass per day, per unit:

• Distributed: manual and semi-manual kilns processing less than 1 tonne daily
• Mechanized: facilities handling between 1 and 15 tonnes
• Industrial: operations processing more than 15 tonnes per day

The core eligibility, durability and accounting rules stay the same across all three tracks. What changes is the monitoring burden. It scales up with size, and industrial facilities face the heaviest requirements: continuous emissions monitoring and batch-level laboratory testing.

For the smallest tier, distributed production comes with digital tracking, and aggregators carry compliance responsibility for the kiln units they bundle together.

What safeguards apply to biomass feedstock?

The feedstock rules are where PARC gets strictest. Biomass must be genuinely surplus — not material diverted from existing uses. Safeguards span six feedstock categories, including agricultural residues, processing residues, invasive species and organic waste.

Two categories face scale restrictions. Purpose-grown biomass and organic waste are limited to industrial-scale projects only, keeping smaller operators away from the feedstocks most prone to diversion and ecosystem damage. Additional measures are designed to prevent feedstock from being pulled away from other uses or harvested in ways that degrade ecosystems.

How does PARC line up with Paris Agreement rules?

The methodology is aligned with the Article 6.4 rules that govern international carbon markets under the Paris Agreement. When Gold Standard issues PARC credits, it applies its Paris-aligned downward adjustment factor — the mechanism that keeps credits from double-counting against host-country climate targets.

That alignment matters for buyers eyeing compliance-grade supply as Article 6.4 mechanisms come online.

What happens next?

PARC now enters the market as the crediting benchmark for biochar CDR under Gold Standard. Projects will have to prove the 5:1 ratio, the surplus feedstock and the 200-year durability claim before any credits move.

The milestone to watch is the first batch of PARC-issued credits — and whether industrial operators, which face continuous monitoring and batch-level lab testing, clear the bar faster than the distributed kiln networks the methodology was built to include.