In the race to limit global warming and achieve net-zero emissions, one major challenge stands out: 75 percent of the solutions needed for decarbonization rely on technologies that are not yet fully mature. Guided by Tencent's mission of Tech for Good, the CarbonX Program is dedicated to helping these technologies scale, enabling them to play a major role in helping businesses and society at large achieve the ambitious targets outlined in the Paris Agreement.
The program is soliciting proposals for and will invest tens of millions of dollars in supporting innovative, early-stage technologies in four key areas:
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Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR): Extracting historic emissions from the atmosphere, emphasizing technology-based solutions to ensure the permanence of the removal. Pilot projects for these efforts will be established in Kenya.
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Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES): Developing a pathway for scaling up the ratio of renewable energy in power grids. To support this, 100-kilowatt pilot projects will be established in the Maldives, designed to deliver more than six hours of energy storage.
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CCUS for the Steel Industry: Exploring how to decarbonize this vital yet hard-to-abate industry. Rather than revalidate mature technologies, pilot projects set in Serbia will advance next-generation point-source CCUS technologies.
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CarbonXmade (CCU): Integrating captured carbon into chemical production and consumer products through the CarbonXmade consortium. This will drive the development of innovative product prototypes to achieve a seamless value chain from carbon to chemicals to consumer product.
CarbonX 2.0 brings together an expanding network of partners across sectors:
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Industry partners include China Resources, Conch Cement, Great Carbon Valley, HBIS Group and SCG.
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Another two industry partners, Sasol and Sinopec Carbon Industry Technology, join the CarbonXmade consortium, together with consumer product partners such as HAY, McDonald's China, PepsiCo, Pop Mart International Group and Unilever.
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Investment partners include Africa Climate Ventures, CASSTAR, China Merchants Venture, Copec WIND Ventures, Happiness Capital, HongShan Capital Group, Lightspeed China Partners, and MPCi.
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The program is further strengthened by ecosystem partners such as African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Global CCS Institute, Impact Hub, Sustainable Markets Initiative and XPrize.
Davis Lin, Senior Vice President of Tencent, said, "The urgency of our climate challenge is undeniable, and addressing it requires bringing the right technologies to market faster to drive impactful change. Our CarbonX program is dedicated to identifying and nurturing these solutions, supporting the transition from the lab to real-world applications. With the second iteration, we'reaiming to foster an international ecosystem that accelerates progress toward net zero."
The program's application period for proposals is now open and welcoming submissions through May 2025 from participants worldwide, including early-stage startups, established companies, and academic or research institutions. The selection process will occur in two phases.
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The first phase (by September 2025): 10 to 15 teams per demonstration scenario will be shortlisted based on their potential to deliver significant impact.
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The second phase (by February 2026): 1 to 3 winning teams per scenario will be chosen from each group.
Winning teams will receive grant funding and additional resources to develop and implement their projects. A distinguished panel of experts from academia, industry, and finance will evaluate all applicants, selecting the most promising teams based on innovation, potential impact, and feasibility of implementation.
CarbonX 2.0 was unveiled at the Sustainable Social Value Innovation Summit in Beijing, also known as the S Summit. This inaugural event brings together businesses, thought leaders, practitioners, researchers, and advocates to discuss how enterprises can accelerate the realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by buil