Default fNRB values used for some countries are artificially high

The calculations used to set baseline assumptions for fuel use are, in some cases, based on inaccurate assumptions about fuel use and deforestation in the project region, and therefore contribute to uncertainty around over-crediting. One measure, fraction of non-renewable biomass (fNRB), estimates the percent of biomass that, due to a project’s activities, is not burned as fuel, and that would likely have come from non-renewable sources, therefore contributing to deforestation. Recent research shows that the default fNRB values used for some countries are artificially high (some as high as 99 percent), and reflect neither diverse sources of fuel nor varied causes of deforestation. The use of more conservative assumptions would likely reduce the risk of over-crediting.