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The documentation chain — what frameworks ask for, and what we produce against each.

Regulatory, voluntary, and corporate-disclosure frameworks mostly want the same underlying evidence. We name what each one asks for and what we contribute — equipment, data, and peer-reviewed LCA.

The Biogenic Refinery, the KELV°N® data platform, and our peer-reviewed life-cycle assessment together produce the evidence chain that carbon-removal certification, sustainability disclosure, and regulatory reporting actually require. This page maps the major frameworks, names what each one asks for, and is explicit about what we do — and what we do not — provide.

Talk to us about your project See the shared evidence chain

This page is reference material. Framework eligibility depends on jurisdiction, feedstock, end-use, methodology version, and certification pathway. Project-specific scoping is how those questions get answered.

§ 01 The shared evidence chain

One record. Most frameworks.

Different frameworks have different audiences, geographies, and crediting mechanisms — but they ask for substantially the same underlying evidence about a biochar production project. Once you produce that evidence well, you can address most frameworks with the same record.

The evidence every major framework wants

What we produce against this list

Evidence requirement What we contribute
Life-cycle assessment Peer-reviewed LCA/TEA published in ACS Environmental Au (Rowles et al., 2022) — the reusable life-cycle-accounting basis underlying every framework on this page. See sidebar callout below.
Process records KELV°N® captures sensor and event data per run — temperature, oxygen, feed rate, state transitions, fault and resolution events. Cloud-and-edge architecture preserves the record on off-grid sites.
Carbonization regime Patented controls hold the carbonizer within the time-temperature window that produces low-H/Corg biochar. The record of which run produced which batch is captured automatically.
Feedstock and biochar mass Continuous load-cell measurement on biochar production with water-input deduction for dry-mass calculation — the measurement basis Puro.earth's methodology specifies for mobile and stationary units.
Equipment compliance with technical thresholds Designed to operate within the H/Corg < 0.7 carbonization threshold shared by Puro.earth, EBC, Verra VM0044, CAR, and the EU CRCF biochar carbon removal (BCR) activity type.
Sampling protocols KELV°N exports support the statistical sampling regimes the methodologies define — including initial parameter sampling (IPS), retention sampling (RS), and the 95% confidence-interval bounds the CAR protocol requires.
End-use chain of custody Operating record links produced batches to outbound shipments. Offtake attestations, where required by methodology, are integrated into the project record at scoping.
Lab analyses Performed by the project developer at the frequency and using the analytical methods each methodology specifies (e.g., DIN 51732 / ISO 29541 for total C/H/N; H/Corg calculated from organic-C and total-H).
Life-cycle assessment
Peer-reviewed LCA/TEA published in ACS Environmental Au (Rowles et al., 2022) — the reusable life-cycle-accounting basis underlying every framework on this page. See sidebar callout below.
Process records
KELV°N® captures sensor and event data per run — temperature, oxygen, feed rate, state transitions, fault and resolution events. Cloud-and-edge architecture preserves the record on off-grid sites.
Carbonization regime
Patented controls hold the carbonizer within the time-temperature window that produces low-H/Corg biochar. The record of which run produced which batch is captured automatically.
Feedstock and biochar mass
Continuous load-cell measurement on biochar production with water-input deduction for dry-mass calculation — the measurement basis Puro.earth's methodology specifies for mobile and stationary units.
Equipment compliance with technical thresholds
Designed to operate within the H/Corg < 0.7 carbonization threshold shared by Puro.earth, EBC, Verra VM0044, CAR, and the EU CRCF biochar carbon removal (BCR) activity type.
Sampling protocols
KELV°N exports support the statistical sampling regimes the methodologies define — including initial parameter sampling (IPS), retention sampling (RS), and the 95% confidence-interval bounds the CAR protocol requires.
End-use chain of custody
Operating record links produced batches to outbound shipments. Offtake attestations, where required by methodology, are integrated into the project record at scoping.
Lab analyses
Performed by the project developer at the frequency and using the analytical methods each methodology specifies (e.g., DIN 51732 / ISO 29541 for total C/H/N; H/Corg calculated from organic-C and total-H).
See the data architecture in detail See how the LCA/TEA shapes our sizing
§ 02 The regulatory landscape

Public-authority frameworks.

These are the public-authority frameworks where biochar production interacts with binding obligations or with statutory crediting systems. They differ by geography and by which dimension of the project they regulate.

Regulation

EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF)

What it is

A European Union regulation that establishes the framework under which voluntary carbon removals — including biochar carbon removal (BCR) as one of four named activity types — can be certified at EU level under technical methodologies developed and adopted under the regulation.

What it asks for

Quantifiable, additional, durable, sustainable removals (the QU.A.L.ITY criteria), monitored and verified by accredited third parties, with the methodology-specific technical rules taking precedence over the regulation's general principles.

What we contribute

A documentation chain — peer-reviewed LCA/TEA, operating record, equipment-design conformance with the H/Corg < 0.7 technical threshold — designed to map onto the BCR technical rules as they are adopted. Methodology-specific eligibility for any given project depends on the production facility, feedstock, and end use, and is determined by the certification body.

What we do not provide

Certification. CRCF certificates are issued through accredited certification bodies operating under approved methodologies — not by equipment manufacturers.

Reporting standard

CSRD / ESRS

What it is

The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and its companion European Sustainability Reporting Standards. Applies to in-scope companies for environmental, social, and governance disclosure — including ESRS E1 on climate.

What it asks for

Audit-grade evidence of greenhouse-gas inventory, transition plans, climate-related risk and opportunity, and physical and transition-risk analyses, with double-materiality assessment.

What we contribute

Run-by-run operating records that corporate customers and operators upstream of biochar projects can use to substantiate climate-related disclosure — process-emissions data, recovered-thermal-energy accounting, displaced-disposal documentation, biochar-output mass, and the LCA basis underlying the carbon claim.

Directive

RED III sustainability criteria

What it is

The recast Renewable Energy Directive sets sustainability and greenhouse-gas-saving criteria for biofuels, bioliquids, and biomass fuels, including waste-derived bioenergy.

What it asks for

Documented sustainability of the feedstock pathway, with Annex IX of the directive defining the feedstocks that count toward advanced-biofuel and waste-derived targets.

What we contribute

Feedstock-acceptance scoping ties RED III Annex IX Part A and Part B feedstock categories to project-specific scoping. When recovered thermal energy from the Biogenic Refinery serves RED-eligible end uses, the operating record provides the conversion-emissions data the directive's chain of custody requires.

For feedstock-specific Annex IX classification, this page defers to the Feedstocks guide. RED III appears here only where feedstock sustainability intersects with carbon-removal or recovered-energy claims.

International standard

ISO 31800

What it is

An international standard for non-sewered sanitation systems treating feces and urine — relevant where the Biogenic Refinery serves a decentralized sanitation function. Aligned with UN SDG 6.2.1.

What it asks for

Documented compliance with safety, performance, and environmental requirements for fecal sludge treatment at community scale.

What we contribute

A decade of field-record operation in fecal-sludge applications, with run-by-run records that demonstrate the time-temperature conditions for pathogen inactivation. Foundational deployment lineage in this category traces to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Reinvent the Toilet program.

§ 03 The voluntary registry landscape

Carbon-credit registries and certification programs.

These are the carbon-credit registries and certification programs through which biochar carbon-removal credits are quantified, verified, issued, and traded. Each has its own methodology, geographic scope, eligibility rules, and unit of issuance.

For a project developer, the choice between these is shaped by feedstock, location, end-use mix, methodology timing, and offtaker preference. Several Biogenic Refinery deployments could in principle proceed under more than one of them; project scoping is how that decision gets made.

Puro.earth

Unit issued
CO2 Removal Certificate (CORC), representing a durable net removal of one tonne of CO2e.
Geographic scope
Global.
Technical threshold
H/Corg < 0.70 for biochar from any carbonization reactor (pyrolysis, gasification, modified combustion).
Methodology version
Edition 2025 (v2), approved by Puro's Advisory Board, transitioning from Edition 2022.
Eligible end uses
Soil amendment, animal feed where regulated, construction-material additives (asphalt, cement, mortar, clay), filtration media, permanent storage structures, and — under conditions specified in the methodology — gardening products sold in retail.
What we contribute
Equipment designed to operate within Puro's reactor categorization and H/Corg threshold; the measurement basis Puro specifies (continuous load-cell measurement of biochar production with water-input deduction) is native to the system. See § 01 LCA/TEA basis.
Additional detail Persistence is calculated via a soil-temperature-adjusted decay model extrapolated to 200 years (CORC200+). Puro is an ICVCM Eligible Carbon Crediting Programme and has stated readiness to integrate with the emerging EU CRCF.

European Biochar Certificate / WBC

Unit issued
EBC certificates by quality class — WBC-Material, WBC-Agro, and WBC-Premium under the World Biochar Certificate framework. Carbon-sink certification handled through a companion C-Sink Standard.
Geographic scope
Europe-led, used globally.
Technical thresholds
H/Corg < 0.7; O/C molar ratio < 0.4; carbon-content tiering (Biochar ≥ 50% biocarbon; below 50% classified as biocarbon minerals).
Methodology version
v10.4 (December 2024).
Eligible end uses
Quality-class-specific — WBC-Material, WBC-Agro, WBC-Premium thresholds for PAHs, heavy metals, PCBs, and dioxins/furans determine which uses each batch qualifies for.
What we contribute
Process and analytical records aligned to EBC's representative sampling guidelines (Annex 4 of v10.4). End-use traceability supports the quality-class declaration the certificate requires.
Additional detail Issued by Carbon Standards International (CSI), Frick, Switzerland. EBC v10.4 quality-class threshold values are reproduced into Puro.earth's 2025 methodology.

Verra VM0044

Unit issued
Verified Carbon Unit (VCU) under the Verified Carbon Standard.
Geographic scope
Global.
Technical threshold
H/Corg < 0.7 by construction (via the IBI / EBC material standards the methodology references). High-technology production-facility conditions apply to non-soil applications.
Methodology version
VM0044 (biochar from waste biomass for soil and non-soil applications), under VCS v4.0.
Eligible feedstocks and end uses
Waste biomass only — agricultural, forestry by-product, biosolids, defined waste streams; purpose-grown biomass not eligible. End uses: soil amendment on cropland, grassland, or forest (not wetlands); cement, asphalt, plastics, and other non-soil pathways where biochar is demonstrated as a long-lived, stable carbon sink.
What we contribute
Equipment that fits the high-technology production-facility category VM0044 requires for non-soil applications; operating record that supports the VCS monitoring plan. See § 01 LCA/TEA basis.
Additional detail Additionality is activity-method based — biochar from waste biomass on the methodology's positive list, with regulatory-surplus demonstration. Biochar applied to soil must comply with IBI Biochar Standards (retired April 2024 but referenced) or EBC material standards, or applicable national contamination regulations.

Climate Action Reserve

Unit issued
Climate Reserve Tonne (CRT).
Geographic scope
United States and Canada, including their territories and tribal/First Nation lands. All phases — feedstock acquisition, biochar production, and end use — must occur in eligible jurisdictions.
Technical threshold
H:Corg < 0.7, evidenced via initial parameter sampling (IPS) and retention sampling (RS) with statistical-process-control bounds. If an updated H:Corg value reaches or exceeds 0.7, no CRTs are issued for that period until subsequent sampling lowers the value.
Methodology version
U.S. and Canada Biochar Protocol v1.0 (March 2024). CRT Calculation Tool v1.0; Sample Reporting Tool v1.0.1.
Eligible end uses
Default permanence factors apply by end use — soil-temperature-based factors for agricultural and soil applications (Woolf et al., 2021); 1.0 for cement, clay, gypsum, and mineral-plaster additives; 0.2 for asphalt additives; 0.3 for wood-polymer composites; 1.0 for permanent storage structures.
What we contribute
Equipment-design conformance with the H:Corg threshold; KELV°N record-keeping aligned to the protocol's monitoring requirements; per-equation inputs to the CAR CRT Calculation Tool map directly to operating data the system already captures. See § 01 LCA/TEA basis.
Additional detail CRT quantification uses the upper bound of the 95% confidence interval for H:Corg and the lower bound of the 95% confidence interval for OCb — a deliberately conservative approach. The Sample Reporting Tool flags "Test subsequent RS" if a value falls more than two SD from the running average, and "New IPS required" if three consecutive values exceed the threshold. Crediting periods run ten years from project start, renewable twice.
§ 04 Corporate disclosure and target-setting

For buyers, operators, and reporters.

For corporate customers — buyers of biochar-based removals, manufacturers using the Biogenic Refinery to manage their own residual streams, and operators reporting under sustainability mandates — the operating record is what makes a disclosure defensible.

Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)

The SBTi framework treats biochar carbon removals as eligible toward beyond-value-chain mitigation. Within a corporate target structure, biochar removals do not substitute for Scope 1, 2, or 3 reductions; they sit alongside reductions as a separate, durable-removal contribution. The operating record from the underlying biochar project is what gives a corporate SBTi disclosure the substantiation an external reviewer asks for.

CDP, TCFD/IFRS S2, and state-level disclosure

Whether a buyer reports through CDP, the TCFD-aligned IFRS S2 standard, the SEC climate-disclosure rule, California SB 253/261, or the EU's CSRD, the underlying evidence requirement is similar: documented inventory, defensible methodology, third-party-verifiable records. The KELV°N record and the peer-reviewed LCA together provide the substantiation layer; the disclosure itself is the customer's responsibility.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs

Operators preparing for EPR obligations — Colorado, Maine, California, Oregon, France, the EU plastics directive — increasingly need end-of-life documentation for materials that compost and recycling cannot credibly handle. The Biogenic Refinery's record of what was processed, in what mass, with what energy recovery and biochar output, contributes to that compliance reporting.

§ 05 What we do not provide

The boundary.

A clear boundary statement matters here, because the most credible claim is the one that draws the line honestly.

§ 06 Frequently asked

Common questions about the framework chain.

Is the Biogenic Refinery a "Puro-certified" or "EBC-certified" system?
The frameworks listed on this page certify projects — a specific facility, feedstock, and end-use combination — not equipment. We describe ourselves as producing the documentation chain those frameworks require, and as supplying equipment designed to meet their technical thresholds. A specific project deploying the Biogenic Refinery and pursuing certification under any of these methodologies works with the relevant certification body; we contribute the equipment, the operating record, and the peer-reviewed LCA basis.
Can the same biochar production project register under more than one methodology?
In principle, no. All four major voluntary methodologies — Puro.earth, EBC C-Sink, Verra VM0044, and CAR — explicitly require no-double-counting, with registry-account uniqueness and a paper trail confirming the same removal is not credited twice. A project chooses one methodology per cohort of biochar production based on geography, feedstock, end-use, and offtaker considerations; the choice is made at project scoping.
What is the H:Corg threshold and why does it matter?
The hydrogen-to-organic-carbon molar ratio measures the degree of carbonization. Below 0.7, the biochar's persistent aromatic structure is sufficient to demonstrate long-term carbon stability under Puro.earth, EBC, Verra, CAR, and the EU CRCF biochar carbon-removal activity. The Biogenic Refinery is engineered to operate within the time-temperature window that produces low-H:Corg biochar across the feedstock range it accepts; the resulting ratio is confirmed by laboratory analysis of project samples on the schedule the methodology specifies.
How does soil temperature affect carbon-credit yield?
For soil and soil-like end uses, persistence — and therefore credited removal per tonne of biochar — varies with the soil temperature at the application location. Cooler soils preserve more carbon, warmer soils less. Puro.earth and CAR both apply soil-temperature-adjusted permanence factors. The application location and its mean soil temperature are inputs the project developer reports; the resulting permanence factor flows through the methodology's quantification equations.
Can biochar from non-woody feedstocks — manures, biosolids, food residuals — qualify?

Yes, conditionally. Puro.earth, Verra VM0044, and CAR all accept non-woody waste feedstocks under defined sustainability and traceability criteria. EBC's positive list similarly includes a broad range of biogenic materials. Project-specific eligibility depends on the methodology's feedstock rules, the end-use pathway, and any contamination, regulatory, or permitting considerations.

See the feedstocks acceptance guide →

What about PFAS and other persistent contaminants?

PFAS in biosolids and other waste feedstocks is a contaminant-management question, not a carbon-accounting question — addressed through feedstock characterization, intended-use review, and emissions and end-use considerations. The methodologies require environmental-quality screening (PAHs, heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs) appropriate to end use, but they do not, on their own, certify contaminant destruction. PFAS handling is determined project-by-project.

See the PFAS FAQ entry →

Does the EU CRCF replace voluntary registries in Europe?
No. The CRCF establishes a framework under which voluntary removals can be certified at EU level under approved methodologies. Voluntary registries operate alongside it; Puro.earth, for instance, has stated readiness to integrate with the CRCF. The relationship between voluntary issuance and CRCF certification is still being defined as the regulation's methodologies are adopted.
How does this relate to ISO 14064-2?
ISO 14064-2 is a project-level GHG quantification and reporting standard. It does not replace carbon-removal methodologies such as Puro.earth, EBC C-Sink, Verra VM0044, CAR, or CRCF. The Biogenic Refinery and the KELV°N operating record support project-level quantification under ISO 14064-2 by producing the monitored data, chain-of-custody evidence, and emissions inputs a verifier expects, regardless of which methodology the project ultimately registers under.
What does ICVCM eligibility mean — for Puro.earth, and for Biomass Controls?
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) is a market-integrity layer for voluntary carbon credits. Its Core Carbon Principles assess crediting programmes — Puro.earth is an ICVCM Eligible Carbon Crediting Programme, for example. ICVCM does not assess equipment manufacturers, and being mentioned alongside an ICVCM-eligible programme is not the same as Biomass Controls holding any ICVCM status of its own. What matters for a project is that the programme it registers under is recognized; what we contribute is the documentation that supports the project's credibility once the programme is chosen.
What about biochar burned as fuel or used as a steel-industry reductant?
Most carbon-credit methodologies — Verra VM0044 explicitly, others by construction — exclude end uses where biochar is combusted (e.g., as a charcoal substitute) or used as a reductant in steel-making, because those pathways re-release the stored carbon. Such applications may still serve a decarbonization purpose by displacing fossil reductants, but they do not generate carbon-removal credits under the methodologies described on this page.

More questions on the full FAQ page

Start with the project, not the framework.

Methodology fit is downstream of project shape. Send us a feedstock summary, the intended end-use mix, the jurisdiction(s) the project will operate in, and any specific carbon-credit or disclosure requirement you are designing toward. We will return a scoping response that names the methodologies the project could pursue and the documentation each one will need.

How we size systems See the data architecture Browse the feedstock catalog
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