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Purchase carbon credits from SunCulture Solar Water Pumps

Introducing solar irrigation to Kenya and transitioning away from CO₂-emitting fuel pumps

Description

Africa’s smallholder farmers have a leading role to play in climate resilience as guardians of natural assets and pioneers of climate smart agricultural practices. Currently, unpredictable rain results in limited access to water which causes lower yields for these farmers. Consequently, they must resort to cheap fuel pumps to adapt to the changing climate, thus contributing to the problem further and perpetuating the cycle.

SunCulture breaks the current vicious circle by introducing life changing technology. As Africa’s first solar irrigation carbon project, it uses the power of the sun to drive climate resilience, mitigation, and adaptation. The purchase of carbon credits help enable this by lowering the cost of solar irrigation to a price below existing diesel and petrol water pumps. Without the SunCulture systems, farmers would continue using these harmful CO₂-emitting fuel pumps.

SunCulture's IoT-enabled irrigation system monitoring ensures a rigorous carbon accounting process, tracking the exact number of minutes that a pump is used for emission-reduction calculations. The avoidance of emissions begins from the moment the technology switch has been made and the longevity of the systems is far greater than that of CO₂-emitting alternatives.

SunCulture views smallholder farmers as climate pioneers by way of carbon financing, rather than as victims. The company is based in Kenya and has operations in several other African countries where it plans to scale this project.

Technology

Renewable Energy

Generating energy from natural sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric power.

Durability

Durability does not apply for this project type, but project activities will be credited over 7 years.

Citation: Section 1.9 in PDD

Project details

Emissions reduced or carbon removed on an annual basis

334,824 tonnes

How the project approaches risk of reversal

The project is not exposed to reversal risk. The developer has completed a thorough assessment of the risk profile of the project and does not anticipate any risk of reversal. The project implementation undertakes comprehensive optimization process before getting the pumps installed to identify that the needs of the developer's clients are fully matched with the solar irrigation product package before going into a sales agreement.

What actions would be taken by the project developer if anticipated emissions reductions do not take place, or if carbon removal is reversed in the future?

Since the program is a Grouped Project, the developer has opportunities to add new instances to the project which can allow them to meet late delivery on the event of reversal from unforeseen externalities. They also have identified alternative certificates in the market with a similar profile that they can use to swap deliveries.

What calculation methods are used to independently reproduce and verify the carbon impact of the project?

Please refer to Section 5.6 in the methodology document and Section 4 in the PDD document.

Citation: Methodology

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

No Poverty

End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Zero Hunger

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Good Health and Well-Being

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Gender Equality

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Clean Water and Sanitation

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Affordable and Clean Energy

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Reduce Inequality

Reduce inequality within and among countries

Sustainable Cities and Communities

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Responsible Consumption and Production

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Climate Action

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Life on Land

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Project certifications

Patch requires projects to have methodology, design, and outcomes verified by an approved third party. Learn more here.

Certifier

Verra

Standard

Verified Carbon Standard

Registry ID

VCS2989

Developer

SunCulture

Project registration date

Most recent Dec 6, 2022

Crediting period term

Aug 1, 2020 - Jul 31, 2027

Latest project methodology

AMS-I.B.: Mechanical energy for the user with or without electrical energy | Version 12

Updated Nov 28, 2022

Verified by Earthood Services Private Limited

Project design document (PDD)

PDD: SunCulture Solar Water Pumps

Updated Mar 3, 2022

Verified by Earthood Services Private Limited

Current verifier of project outcomes

Earthood Services Private Limited

Meru, Kenya

Renewable Energy

Meets Verified Carbon Standard standards

€19.73 per tonne