<div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">Kevin,</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I think most of the confusion that is preventing us from making biochar in the global South, at the scale we know is possible, is our failure to understand the possibilities of how carbon credits can be used to finance our efforts to reduce, avoid and remove carbon emissions.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">ISO-compliant carbon credits verified by LCA are transferable financial instruments representing the underling commodity. The underlying commodity is the reduction, advoidance or removal of one tonne of carbon dioxide or its carbon dioxide-equilivent (CO2e). </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Financial instruments representing a commodity are essentially privately issued money that derives its value from the underlying commodity. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The underlying commodity represented in an unverified carbon credit is an offset for countries to meet their <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationally_determined_contribution" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;line-height:inherit;font-family:-apple-system,blinkmacsystemfont,"segoe ui",roboto,inter,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;vertical-align:baseline;background:none rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(51,102,204);text-decoration-line:none" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">Nationally Determined Contributions</a><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34);font-family:-apple-system,blinkmacsystemfont,"segoe ui",roboto,inter,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> (NDC) commitments to achieve the goals of the </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Agreement" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;line-height:inherit;font-family:-apple-system,blinkmacsystemfont,"segoe ui",roboto,inter,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;vertical-align:baseline;background:none rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(51,102,204);text-decoration-line:none" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">Paris Agreement</a><span style="color:rgb(32,33,34);font-family:-apple-system,blinkmacsystemfont,"segoe ui",roboto,inter,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">.</span></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto">The latest <a href="http://carboncredits.com/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">carboncredits.com</a> voluntary carbon market price quoted for nature based carbon offsets is $1.27 a metric ton. On the other hand carbon credits that have been verified by an ISO-compliant LCA are trading for around $200 a metric ton, and in 2022 87% of all LCA verified carbon credits in the world were for carbon removed and sequestered in biochar. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, there still are no registries that will issue carbon credits for the ISO-compliant verification of reduced or avoided emissions.<br></div></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The problem we face for ISO-compliant verification of carbon removals in biochar is so expensive and time consuming that small biochar producers can not afford to verify what they produce. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">To me the obvious solution is that the big biochar producers, or would be producers, enter into negotiated partnership arrangements with city dwelling cooks, who need the excess heat for cooking, to provide the labor and stoves necessary to make the biochar for the producer, essentially in consideration for the big producer aggregating and delevering suitable crop waste feedstock for the cooks. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The bad news is that to address climate change we need to avoid and reduce emissions by a factor many times greater than can be removed in biochar. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Nevertheless, when cooks uses the excess heat generated by removing and sequestering carbon in biochar to avoid or reduce the emissions that would have otherwise be generated by the fuel they would have used, they are avoiding more emissions than are being removed in the biochar.</div><div dir="auto"> </div><div dir="auto">The ISO-compliant LCA used to verify the carbon removals in the biochar, so th carbon credits can be issued to the producer, verifies that the cooks have reduced and avoided emissions to the same standards as the removals are verified. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">If the fuel being replaced is artesian charcoal then, as Kevin has just noted, 10 tonnes of CO2e emissions will have been avoided for each tonne of charcoal that is replaced with the excess heat from making biochar.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Unfortunately, there are no registries that I am aware of that will issue ISO-compliant financial instruments (carbon credits) for the LCA verified reduction and advoidance of carbon emissions.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Bill</div></div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote" dir="auto"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Jan 27, 2024, 11:40 PM Ronal Larson <<a href="mailto:rongretlarson@comcast.net" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">rongretlarson@comcast.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style="line-break:after-white-space">List: 2 cics <div><br></div><div><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>I don’t disagree with anything Kevin is saying, but would much prefer that the cook (urban user of charcoal lumps) instead receive the farm ag residue (corn stalks as an example) and make her own char in one of Kevin’s all brick cookstoves (that are super cheap). She makes money that way, and all illegally made char lumps would disappear from the market - because the cooks are better off making their own carbon negative <a href="http://char.to" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">char.to</a> go back to the farms supplying the stalks/residue (or to dozens of groups needing biochar for other non-ag reasons.</div><div><br></div><div><span style="white-space:pre-wrap"> </span>The middle “men” in getting the ag residues in and the char out can be enterprising women handling maybe 10 to 100 of their neighbors. More local jobs. And same women can handle implementation of Kevin’s almost free stoves (which are MUCH cleaner(healthier) than the present stoves - whether using wood or char). Also safer and time savers..</div><div><br></div><div>Ron.</div><div><br id="m_-482198051259857651m_3751815657554380493m_2029357655056569245m_4289238504061010138lineBreakAtBeginningOfMessage"><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Jan 27, 2024, at 9:24 PM, K McLean <<a href="mailto:kmclean56@gmail.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">kmclean56@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br><div><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Dear Crispin,</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">This does not involve cooking with maize stalks. Char out from maize stalks. The char is then made into briquettes. The briquettes are sold to charcoal users to replace charcoal.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">Kevin</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Jan 27, 2024 at 11:04 PM Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <<a href="mailto:crispinpigott@outlook.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">crispinpigott@outlook.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">Dear Kevin</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">That helps a lot. Ok. You have to show that there is a reduction in emissions when you analyse “the system”. As far as I understand what you described it is that people are - pretty indirectly - cooking with maize stalks instead of…. Wood?<span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">Is the charcoal briquette a wood fuel substitute?</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">If so you can claim you have reduced net biomass loss by the local fNRB x mass of wood fuel not burned x 0.48 x 44/12 = n</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">Because the corn stover is normally a 100% loss any wood saved by the char is creditable as above. </div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">With some trouble and measurements you should be able to get some additional credit for burning the stover with lower emissions of gases and PM. You have to quantify the emissions for both cases. It is probably worth it. <span></span><span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">I hope this helps</div>
<div dir="ltr">Crispin</div>
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<div id="m_-482198051259857651m_3751815657554380493m_2029357655056569245m_4289238504061010138m_1162601019225453266divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size:11pt"><b>From:</b> Stoves <<a href="mailto:stoves-bounces@lists.bioenergylists.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">stoves-bounces@lists.bioenergylists.org</a>> on behalf of K McLean <<a href="mailto:kmclean56@gmail.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">kmclean56@gmail.com</a>><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Saturday, January 27, 2024 8:32:00 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Discussion of biomass cooking stoves <<a href="mailto:stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Stoves] ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Carbon credits for briquettes that replace charcoal in Africa</font>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="font-size:small">Hi Crispin,</div>
<div style="font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size:small">I was unclear, I'm sorry. In East Africa we make char using the top down burn of piles of maize stalks. These farmers traditionally burn their maize stalks by lighting the pile on the side. Here is a
<a href="https://youtu.be/YJYDyRkK-Qg" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">
video</a> showing the difference between the traditional burn (left pile) and the top down burn of maize stalks (pile on the right). There is obviously a reduction in emissions by lighting the pile on the top. To make char for briquettes, the embers are quenched
with water when the fire starts to go down. I think it is clear that there is a reduction in emissions in making char this way compared to the traditional method of burning maize stalks. </div>
<div style="font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size:small">So the question then is the CO2e emitted in making charcoal in an earthen mound. The FAO determined it to be 10 tonnes of CO2e per tonne of charcoal.</div>
<div style="font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size:small">Kevin</div>
</div>
<br>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">On Sat, Jan 27, 2024 at 10:16 PM Crispin Pemberton-Pigott <<a href="mailto:crispinpigott@outlook.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">crispinpigott@outlook.com</a>> wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
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<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">Dear Kevin</div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">That figure represents the emission of CO2 and the gases with a CO2 equivalent. It does not represent a net reduction available. Charcoal is made from biomass which is made almost entirely from CO2 originating in the atmosphere. </div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">A carbon credit is available for a documentable permanent reduction in emission of one ton of CO2. It the wood is harvested from a sustainable source there is no credit available because everything harvested is going to regrow. If only a fraction
of the harvested biomass grows back (which varies within regions and locales) then a “fraction of non-renewable biomass<span> ” (fNRB) can be calculated from assessment(s). The available credits are 10 tons x fNRB = n.</span><span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br>
</span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span>If the fNRB value is 5% the answer is 0.5 tons credit per 10 tons of avoided charcoal production. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br>
</span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span>If you are making briquettes as the alternative, there are two added considerations. One is the energy used to make the briquettes and the other is the efficiency of the substitute fuel. In general charcoal stoves are more efficient than
briquette stoves. The 0.5 ton credit will be factored by methods of Article 6.2 and 6.4 of the Paris Agreement for the lower fuel efficiency of the briquette stove if it is indeed lower. If it is higher, then there is a credit gain. <span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br>
</span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span>Under Article 6 many or maybe all countries had their fNRB values reduced considerably. Under CDM many were pretty arbitrary. And high. Not anymore. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br>
</span></div>
<div dir="ltr">Let’s look at the FAO's number:<span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><br>
</div>
<div dir="ltr">One dry ton of wood is about 48% carbon, or 480 kg. Traditional charcoal production is ~12%-15% yield these days. It does vary so check because there is a bi<span>g difference between 8% and 20%. At 15% yield the carbon is ~81% of 15% of 1000
kg. That is 121.5 kg of carbon. The difference between that and 480 was emitted: 385.5 carbon emitted as 1314.5 kg CO2. That's a lot less than 10,000 kg. <span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br>
</span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span>They must be counting the PM mass with a large multiplier. I have no idea what numbers they will use for that. Remember they should be using a 100 year calc because it says CO2e. We can't prove how they got to ten tons. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br>
</span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span>So all said and done that is how credits are generated. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span><br>
</span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span>Best regards</span></div>
<div dir="ltr"><span>Crispin</span></div>
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<div id="m_-482198051259857651m_3751815657554380493m_2029357655056569245m_4289238504061010138m_1162601019225453266x_m_-633120929604140236ms-outlook-mobile-signature">
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<div id="m_-482198051259857651m_3751815657554380493m_2029357655056569245m_4289238504061010138m_1162601019225453266x_m_-633120929604140236divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size:11pt"><b>From:</b> Stoves <<a href="mailto:stoves-bounces@lists.bioenergylists.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">stoves-bounces@lists.bioenergylists.org</a>>
on behalf of K McLean <<a href="mailto:kmclean56@gmail.com" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">kmclean56@gmail.com</a>><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Saturday, January 27, 2024 6:07:04 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Stoves and Biofuels Network <<a href="mailto:stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">stoves@lists.bioenergylists.org</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Stoves] ***SPAM*** Carbon credits for briquettes that replace charcoal in Africa</font>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="font-size:small">Is anyone getting these?</div>
<div style="font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size:small"><a href="https://www.fao.org/3/i6934e/i6934e.pdf" rel="noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">FAO</a>
says that 10 tonnes of CO2e are caused by the production of 1 tonne of charcoal in the typical earthen mound kiln common in Africa. If this is correct, one tonne of briquettes should fetch 10 carbon credits.</div>
<div style="font-size:small"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size:small">Kevin McLean</div>
<div style="font-size:small">Sun24</div>
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