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Gold Standard has launched updated clean cooking and thermal energy methodologies, alongside a new digital stove monitoring tool, representing a comprehensive modernisation of carbon accounting across the cookstove sector.
Gold Standard has published a suite of updated clean cooking and thermal energy methodologies, alongside a digital stove monitoring tool. The updates establish consistent, Paris Agreement-aligned accounting principles from micro-scale to fully metered, data-driven systems, while preserving practical access to carbon finance in low-income and remote settings. With these updates, more than a third (34%) of Gold Standard’s current project portfolio has access to methodologies aligned with the Paris Agreement.
Following the launch of 10 methodologies and tools for public consultation in April, these revised methodologies, which will be applied to all 2026 credit vintages onwards, mark a major step in Gold Standard’s Paris Agreement Alignment. The updates enable projects to scale efficiently through standardised safeguards and new digital monitoring options, strengthening environmental integrity and maximising market viability.
The methodologies incorporate feedback received at the public consultation stage, and are designed to remain practical across diverse, real-world contexts, enabling projects in low-income and remote settings to access carbon finance without compromising integrity.
Together they represent a modernisation of carbon accounting across the full spectrum of cooking interventions – from micro-scale projects using simplified approaches to advanced, fully metered technologies – establishing a unified market framework that will improve confidence for developers, investors and buyers.
Reduced Emissions from Cooking and Heating (RECH) V5.0 (formerly TPDDTEC)
The Reduced Emissions from Cooking and Heating (RECH) methodology covers non-metered clean cooking and heating technologies, using field-based measurements to quantify emissions reductions.
By enhancing baseline setting, incorporating cradle-to-gate embodied emissions through a dual-pathway rule, and accounting for real-world usage such as stove stacking and behavioural responses, the methodology strengthens transparency and ensures conservative, credible crediting while maintaining applicability across widely used technologies. The changes reinforce Paris Agreement alignment through the integration of Downward Adjustment Factors, while improving scalability and accessibility by replacing unviable field mandates with practical, statistically robust approaches suited to large-scale deployment in the Global South.
Metered & Measured Energy Cooking Devices (MECD) V2.0
The Metered & Measured Energy Cooking Devices (MECD) V2.0 methodology applies to fully metered cooking technologies using direct, 100% device-level measurement through Continuously Tracked Energy Consumption (CTEC) to quantify energy use.
By relying on continuous, real-time data, it improves the accuracy and integrity of emissions reductions, enabling high-confidence crediting at scale.
Simplified Methodology for Clean and Efficient Cookstoves (SMEC) V4.0
The Simplified Methodology for Clean and Efficient Cookstoves (SMEC) V4.0 applies to micro-scale clean cookstove projects, enabling emissions reductions to be quantified based on real-world fuel use.
By combining simplified rules such as deemed additionality and default baselines with direct performance measurement, it improves accessibility for smaller projects while ensuring credible, real-world emission reductions.
Animal Manure Management and Biogas Use for Thermal Energy Generation (AWMS) V2.0
The Animal Manure Management and Biogas Use for Thermal Energy Generation (AWMS) V2.0 methodology covers biogas systems that recover methane from animal manure and organic waste for thermal energy use.
Enhanced safeguards for methane and digestate management strengthen the credibility and consistency of emissions reductions across projects.
Tool 7: Digital Stove Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Tool (D-Smart)
Tool 7: Digital Stove Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Tool (D-SMART) is a comprehensive optional add-on to RECH V5.0 that enables digital, sensor-based monitoring of cookstove projects through automated fuel tracking and continuous usage data. Specific components may also be applied to other Gold Standard methodologies where Kitchen Performance Tests (KPTs) are used for fuel consumption measurement, subject to explicit compatibility with the parent methodology.
By providing project developers with a digital, empirical data-collection mechanism that feeds directly into emissions reduction calculations, the tool significantly improves the accuracy and integrity of results while reducing monitoring burden and supporting scalable implementation.
These updates respond to the demand for integrity across the carbon market by embedding stronger safeguards, improving methodological clarity, and expanding access to high-integrity carbon finance. They reinforce Gold Standard’s role in advancing practical, science-based frameworks that deliver credible climate impact while enabling projects to scale across diverse, real-world contexts.
Gold Standard invites project developers, investors, policymakers, and other stakeholders to explore the updated methodologies.