CarbonX: Turning Ideas Into Real-World Climate Impact

Each year, over 40 billion tons of CO2 are spewed into the atmosphere. With the global average temperature for 2024 already estimated at 1.6°C above the pre-industrial average, the risks of overheating are dire.

The good news is, we already know many of the solutions—we just need to move faster and bigger. Tencent’s CarbonX Program answers that call, designed precisely to find, fund, and scale the most impactful climate technologies, moving the planet’s best ideas out of the lab and into the real world.

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Powering real-world climate innovation

CarbonX brings together scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and other vital ecosystem partners to turn bold ideas and promising inventions into scalable and commercially viable climate solutions.

For its second iteration, 50 teams were selected as finalists, from more than 660 applicants across 54 countries and regions, showcasing advanced technologies that can cut emissions and store carbon sustainably. They now compete for a share of US$28 million in catalytic funding and the chance to pilot their projects in climate-vulnerable places like Kenya, the Maldives, and Serbia.

Four tracks driving change

1. Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR): removing carbon for good

To combat climate change, we must remove as well as reduce CO₂.

Several CarbonX finalists are pioneering ways to do this smarter and cheaper. One approach turns farm waste into biochar, locking carbon into the soil for hundreds of years while producing renewable bio-oil that can power local industries. Others are scaling enhanced rock weathering, a natural process where crushed minerals capture CO₂ in rainwater, monitored with high-precision sensors and satellite data to verify safe storage.

In the field, another team uses soil microbes that both capture carbon and boost crop yields. Meanwhile, a new generation of direct-air-capture (DAC) systems uses microwave energy instead of steam, removing the same amount of CO₂ from the atmosphere using 90 percent less energy.

So what: Carbon removal can be measurable, affordable, and ready for deployment, from biochar fields to high-efficiency DAC systems powered by renewables.

2. Industrial Decarbonization: reinventing heavy industry

Steel production alone accounts for over seven percent of global CO₂ emissions.

A CarbonX innovation is closing that loop. It captures CO₂ from steel furnaces and turns it into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which are directly fed back into the steelmaking process, creating a cycle that cuts emissions without slowing production. Even better, it can be retrofitted to existing plants.

So what: Clean manufacturing is already taking shape inside one of the world’s hardest-to-decarbonize industries.

3. Carbon Capture & Utilization (CarbonXmade): turning emissions into everyday products

Captured carbon can be more than a waste stream – it can be a resource.

One team uses CO₂ to make sustainable surfactants and polymers for household products like shampoo, detergent, and paint. These materials replace petrochemical ingredients and can reduce product emissions by up to 65 percent. Another turns agricultural waste into high-value protein for food and organic fertilizers that store carbon in the soil and enhance soil health.

So what: When carbon becomes a building block for everyday goods, sustainability scales through markets, not mandates.

4. Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES): keeping clean energy always on

Renewables are most powerful when we can store their energy for later use.

Some CarbonX technologies are reimagining energy storage. Organic flow batteries use low-cost, non-toxic electrolytes, delivering reliable electricity at one-third the cost of conventional systems.

Another innovation is an LDES system that can provide heating and cooling while powering microgrids for island communities. It delivers an overall energy efficiency above 90 percent with storage duration exceeding 10 hours.

So what: These solutions make renewables dependable for homes, businesses, and vulnerable communities, a vital step toward global energy equity.

Collaboration that multiplies impact

Behind each of these brilliant ideas is a network of innovators and industry leaders working together across continents. That’s what CarbonX was built for, to connect people and minds so climate solutions can move faster from concept to commercial impact.

These technologies are already shaping a net-zero future, proving that innovation isn’t just about invention – it’s about collaboration and collective impact.

Learn more about the finalists and discover how CarbonX is helping turn climate breakthroughs into real-world solutions.