Contribution project

Coconut shells and sawdust instead of firewood

Brazil, Bandeira & Capelli

ClimatePartner ID: 1012

Project details

BiomassGet to know the project

Bandeira and Capelli are two ceramic factories in the state of Alagoas in north-eastern Brazil that produce roof tiles and bricks for the local market. Here, kilns for ceramics are traditionally fired with wood. This causes significant amounts of carbon emissions and is one of the reasons for massive deforestation in the Caatinga, a species-rich forest area that is already under threat. The two ceramic factories have, therefore, switched to sustainable fuels: renewable biomass such as coconut shells, sawdust, sugar cane waste and sustainably grown bamboo. Additionally, the project has received verification according to the Social Carbon Standard, which requires social and ecological improvements besides the CO₂ criteria.

14,882 t CO₂Estimated annual emissions reductions

Project Standard

The project contributes to the the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals

How biomass projects help contribute to climate action

Biomass refers to organic residues such as tree branches, leaves, sawdust, wood chips or coconut shells. Those are of a biogenic, non-fossil nature that can be used to generate renewable energy. One way to generate renewable energy, among others, is to fire kilns using biomass. This process prevents harmful smoke and large quantities of CO₂ to be released.

As an additional greenhouse gas reduction measure, biomass climate projects mostly prevent biomass from rotting in the open air, so that no methane (CH₄) is released. Biomass projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered with international standards.

The project aims to contribute to these United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Project facts

Climate projects generally fall into one of three groups: carbon reduction, carbon removal, or carbon avoidance. Carbon reduction projects reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by a specific activity (e.g., improved cookstoves). Carbon removal projects remove carbon from the atmosphere by sequestering it in carbon sinks (e.g., reforestation). Carbon avoidance projects avoid greenhouse gas emissions entering the atmosphere (e.g., protecting forests from deforestation with REDD+ projects).

All climate projects are based on international standards. They set processes and requirements which carbon projects must fulfill to be recognised as a proven method of reducing carbon emissions.

Climate projects demonstrably reduce, remove, or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. This is achieved with various technologies, ranging from nature-based solutions to social impact projects and renewable energies.

Most standards on the voluntary carbon market list their projects in public registries. The registries are used to store project data and track issuances and retirements of verified emission reductions. The registry ID can be used to identify projects in the standard registry.

Check out this project

Climate projects go through third-party validation and verification. Verification happens regularly after each monitoring period. A validation and verification body checks and assesses whether the values and project activities stated in the monitoring report are correct and verifies them. As with validation, visits to the project site are often part of the process.

This figure shows the estimated annual emission reductions calculated before the project started. The actual number of emissions saved in each monitoring period may differ. The background to this process is that in order to be registered as a climate project, the project operator must submit the calculation of the estimated emissions savings using the ex-ante methodology in a Project Design Document (PDD), which is similar to a business plan. This calculation is validated by an independent auditor. The values determined in the PDD are recalculated during regular monitoring periods based on actual project performance, documented in a monitoring report, and verified again by independent auditors at the end of the monitoring period to ensure a robust process. Independent verification thus provides ex-post verification of actual emission reductions. Verified emission reductions are not distributed until the savings have actually been made.

* For certified projects only: the project-related information on this page is based on the documents in the register.

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