The Khon Kaen Biomass Platform qualifies as a multi-layered carbon mitigation and removal system, generating carbon value across energy, agriculture, waste management, and soil systems.
The platform addresses three primary emission sources:
Avoided open-field burning of rice straw and sugarcane leaves
Displacement of fossil-based grid electricity through biomass power generation
Soil carbon enhancement and fertilizer substitution through organic compost
This enables eligibility across multiple carbon methodologies, while allowing conservative, non-overlapping credit issuance.
Baseline scenario:
Open-field burning of rice straw and sugarcane leaves after harvest, which is a dominant contributor to PM2.5 and seasonal GHG emissions in Northeast Thailand.
Project activity:
Collection, aggregation, and productive utilization of biomass as fuel and compost feedstock.
Carbon impact characteristics:
Immediate, measurable, and verifiable emission avoidance
Strong alignment with air-quality and public-health objectives
High policy relevance at provincial and national levels
Indicative emission factor (conservative):
≈ 1.6 tCO₂e per tonne of biomass avoided from burning
Baseline scenario:
Electricity supplied from Thailand’s fossil-dominated grid mix.
Project activity:
Dispatchable biomass power plants supplying firm renewable electricity under long-term PPAs.
Carbon impact characteristics:
Direct Scope 2 displacement for industrial and grid offtakers
High suitability for corporate decarbonization buyers
Stable, long-term credit generation profile
Reference grid emission factor:
≈ 0.55 tCO₂e per MWh (Thailand grid, conservative)
Baseline scenario:
Low organic matter soils with reliance on synthetic fertilizers.
Project activity:
Application of certified organic compost produced from agricultural residues.
Carbon impact characteristics:
Long-term carbon sequestration in soils
Additional co-benefits: yield stability, water retention, fertilizer reduction
Strong alignment with Scope 3 reduction strategies for agri-food companies
Carbon credit type:
Soil organic carbon (SOC) enhancement
Potential integration with carbon removal registries (subject to MRV maturity)
Source Estimated Impact
Avoided open burning ~2.33 million tCO₂e / year
Renewable electricity displacement Included conservatively in above (non-double counted)
Soil carbon & fertilizer substitution Additional upside (not included in base case)
Note: Base-case carbon volumes intentionally exclude soil carbon upside to maintain conservative investor assumptions.
The platform is designed to remain standards-agnostic but compliance-ready, enabling flexibility across markets:
Thailand T-VER (for domestic compliance and public-sector alignment)
Potential bilateral cooperation mechanisms under Article 6.2
Verra (VCS) – Avoided burning & energy methodologies
Gold Standard – Energy access, clean air, SDG-linked credits
High-integrity removal registries for soil carbon (phased)
The platform integrates digital MRV by design, not as an afterthought.
Farm-level biomass origin tracking
GPS-tagged collection and warehouse logs
Power plant fuel input and electricity output monitoring
Compost production, distribution, and application records
Remote sensing & satellite verification for burn-avoidance claims
This enables:
Audit-ready datasets
Compatibility with third-party verifiers
Future integration with blockchain-based registries if required
Carbon revenues are treated as upside value, not required for base-case project bankability.
Improve project IRR and DSCR
Support concessional pricing for farmers
Fund MRV and digital infrastructure
Enable blended-finance structures with DFIs
Industrial Scope 3 emitters
RE100 and clean-air aligned corporates
ESG-driven infrastructure funds
Sovereign and sub-sovereign climate programs
The Khon Kaen platform aligns with major climate-finance principles:
Paris Agreement / NDC alignment
SDGs: 7, 11, 12, 13, 15
Just Transition: rural income, community participation
Blended Finance: senior debt, concessional capital, carbon upside
The modular cluster structure allows:
Phased deployment
Province-level aggregation for large ticket financing
Replication across Thailand and ASEAN
Conservative baselines
No double counting between energy and burning avoidance
Clear ownership of carbon rights via project SPVs
Long-term feedstock agreements with community enterprises
Independent third-party verification
This platform offers investors:
Large-scale, real-economy decarbonization
High environmental additionality
Strong policy tailwinds (PM2.5, clean air, rural development)
Optionality across carbon markets without dependency risk
The Khon Kaen Biomass Platform demonstrates how air-pollution mitigation, renewable energy infrastructure, circular agriculture, and carbon finance can be integrated into a single, scalable provincial system—delivering both measurable climate impact and institutional-grade investment returns.