Strengthening Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Protocols

Biomass carbon removal, or biomass CDR, can deliver gigaton-scale climate mitigation by pairing the power of photosynthesis with engineered technologies to store carbon for centuries or longer. 

In this report, Clean Air Task Force collaborated with eight leading experts to evaluate biomass CDR protocols. We identified six priorities to improve the protocols and the carbon market system:

1. Adopt the established definition of carbon removal: The carbon removal industry should adopt the established definition of carbon removal which is based on a net removal of carbon from the atmosphere rather than solely the adoption of a technology or execution of a project. 
2. Prescribe cautious estimates: When project-specific data are not available, protocols should prescribe estimates for supply chain emissions and removals and use conservative values. This will be simpler and more predictable for project developers, and provide certainty that credits are achieving their intended carbon removal.   
3. Clarify which emissions are deducted: Protocols must disclose which emissions sources are deducted from the total carbon stored to calculate overall carbon removal. For example, some protocols subtract emissions from growing and harvesting and biomass and others do not. Transparency will give buyers the ability to compare crediting methods. 
4. Include all emissions sources where possible: For projects with traceable biomass supply chains, protocols should include all major sources of emissions in the calculation of carbon removal. This will help ensure that all credits represent actual carbon removals. This is particularly important in projects where emissions are not already regulated or accounted for in products.  
5. Improve consistency across protocols: Standardize the treatment of key features across protocols, such as emissions from producing equipment and building facilities, assumptions about what would have happened to carbon in biomass and to facility emissions without the project, and how measurement or estimation errors are handled. This will give buyers confidence that any certified credits are roughly equivalent. 
6. Make protocols adaptable: Protocols should be updated on a regular schedule to reflect advances in science and technology. This provides a reliable process for standards development that encourages innovation while supporting the industry to scale today.