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How a geothermal epoch is sealed
A geothermal operator can show generation. The open question is whether the net export, after imports and storage charging, clears the project emissions for that span.
Signs in the plant record
- Nameplate, a calibration date, and a grid factor from a named source.
- A gas analyzer that is either online or not.
- A summary that skips those gates.
The arithmetic the seal actually runs
For a binary or flash plant the seal computes net export as export minus import minus storage charge. Baseline emissions are that net times the grid factor. Project emissions add non-condensable gas and parasitic fossil use. Net reductions are baseline minus project minus leakage. The arithmetic is decimal, not binary floating point. The epoch mints the whole tons and carries the remainder. Below one ton, nothing is minted.
The span has to sit inside the calibration window. Meter drift above one half of one percent stops the seal. A non-binary plant without an online gas analyzer stops the seal. The methodology gate requires an active verifier and an additionality hash. An Article 6 claim without a host-country authorization hash does not pass. Domestic units stay domestic.
The result is an evidence bundle. It is not a Verra serial, not a section 45Q position, and not a confirmed chain inclusion.