50 Global Dual-Carbon Backbone Project Proposals
The following projects are designed according to the principle of "tailored to local conditions and globally distributed," fully considering the "four distinctive features"—geographical location, physical geography, cultural characteristics, and resource endowments—of different regions, enabling deployment in suitable locations across the world.
I. Large-Scale Clean Energy Development Projects (1–11)
No. |
Project Name |
Resource Endowment |
Suitable Regions |
Project Overview |
1 |
Desert Solar Superbase |
Solar resources + desert land |
Sahara, Middle East, Northwest China, inland Australia |
Build gigawatt-scale photovoltaic power stations in desert areas, while using PV panel shading to develop desert ecological restoration and water-efficient agriculture [1] |
2 |
Offshore Wind Power Cluster |
Offshore wind + shallow continental shelf |
North Sea, coastal China, U.S. East Coast, Southeast Asian archipelagos |
Build large-scale offshore wind farms, supported by marine ecological monitoring and offshore hydrogen production facilities [4] |
3 |
Geothermal Energy Development |
Geothermal resources + volcanic/rift zones |
Iceland, East African Rift, Pacific Ring of Fire |
Develop integrated geothermal power generation and district heating systems to meet urban zero-carbon heat demand |
4 |
Tropical Rainforest Hydropower |
Hydropower resources + tropical rivers |
Amazon, Congo Basin, Southeast Asia |
Build large-scale hydropower stations, supported by biodiversity conservation corridors and community development funds [3] |
5 |
Polar Wind-Solar-Storage Integration |
Polar wind energy + year-round low temperatures |
Northern Europe, Northern Canada, Siberian Russia |
Utilize abundant polar wind resources and low-temperature environments to build integrated wind-solar-storage energy bases |
6 |
Green Hydrogen Production and Export Hub |
Wind/solar resources + port conditions |
North Africa, Australia, Chile, Middle East |
Produce hydrogen using wind and solar power; export liquid hydrogen/green ammonia through ports to serve the global hydrogen trade [4] |
7 |
Thin-Film PV Agriculture |
Solar resources + agricultural land |
Mediterranean coast, California (U.S.), Huang-Huai-Hai Plain (China) |
Install semi-transparent thin-film photovoltaics above farmland to achieve the synergy of "power generation above, crop cultivation below" |
8 |
Tidal Power Demonstration |
Tidal range + bay topography |
Severn Estuary (UK), La Rance (France), west coast of South Korea |
Build tidal power stations in bays with significant tidal ranges to provide predictable clean electricity |
9 |
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) |
Direct solar radiation + desert terrain |
Southwestern U.S., South Africa, Northwest China, Middle East |
Build tower/trough CSP plants with molten salt thermal storage to enable continuous evening power supply |
10 |
Biomass CHP (Combined Heat and Power) |
Agricultural/forestry waste + biomass resources |
Brazil, India, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe |
Generate power and heat from agricultural residues such as bagasse, rice husks, and wood chips, achieving resource circulation |
11 |
Akkuyu Nuclear Power Project |
Baseload power demand + coastal cooling water |
Turkey and similar coastal countries |
Build four VVER-1200 nuclear power units to provide stable zero-carbon baseload electricity for Turkey's carbon neutrality efforts, with the first unit planned for grid connection in 2026 [11] |
II. Industrial Deep Decarbonization Projects (12–21)
No. |
Project Name |
Resource Endowment |
Suitable Regions |
Project Overview |
12 |
Hydrogen-Based Direct Reduced Iron |
Green hydrogen resources + iron ore deposits |
Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Middle East |
Use green hydrogen to replace metallurgical coke for iron ore reduction, achieving zero-carbon steelmaking [4] |
13 |
Cement Industry CCUS Cluster |
Limestone deposits + CO₂ storage geology |
China, India, Egypt, Mexico |
Build centralized carbon capture and storage facilities at cement production bases, utilizing mineralization reactions to sequester CO₂ [5] |
14 |
Recycled Aluminum Circular Economy |
Scrap aluminum recycling + clean electricity |
Europe, North America, China, Southeast Asia |
Scale up production of recycled aluminum using clean energy electricity, with energy consumption only 5% of primary aluminum |
15 |
Zero-Carbon Chemical Park |
Chemical industry clustering + green hydrogen/electricity |
Ludwigshafen (Germany), Shanghai (China), U.S. Gulf Coast |
Replace fossil energy with green hydrogen and green electricity to build a zero-carbon production system for chemical raw materials and fuels |
16 |
E-Waste Urban Mining |
Electronic product consumption + recycling technology |
East Asia, North America, Europe |
Recover precious metals and rare earth elements from end-of-life electronic devices, establishing a circular "urban mining" system [4] |
17 |
Cross-Regional Industrial Waste Heat Heating |
Industrial heat sources + urban heating demand |
Northern Europe, Northern China, Russia |
Transport waste heat from steel and cement plants to urban heating systems via pipeline networks [5] |
18 |
Green Hydrogen-Ammonia Fertilizer |
Green hydrogen + ammonia synthesis technology |
Africa, India, South America |
Replace natural gas with green hydrogen for ammonia production, achieving zero-carbon "green fertilizer" production |
19 |
Supercritical CO₂ Waste Heat Power Generation |
Industrial waste heat resources |
Steel/cement industry clusters |
Use supercritical CO₂ as the working fluid to recover industrial waste heat for power generation, with efficiency over 50% higher than conventional waste heat utilization |
20 |
Chemical Recycling of Waste Plastics |
Plastic waste + pyrolysis technology |
Pacific Rim countries |
Convert mixed waste plastics that are difficult to recycle mechanically into oil and chemical feedstocks through pyrolysis |
21 |
Zero-Carbon Cement Clinker |
Low-carbon clay + calcination technology |
Africa, Southeast Asia, South America |
Replace part of cement clinker with activated clay, reducing carbon emissions by over 50% [5] |
III. Green Transportation Infrastructure Projects (22–29)
No. |
Project Name |
Resource Endowment |
Suitable Regions |
Project Overview |
22 |
Zero-Carbon Port Retrofit |
Port hubs + shipping routes |
Rotterdam, Singapore, Shanghai, Los Angeles |
Build shore power systems and hydrogen refueling facilities to achieve zero-carbon port operations and vessel berthing [2] |
23 |
Green Shipping Alternative Fuel Corridor |
Shipping routes + wind/solar resources |
Northern Europe–Baltic, East Asia–Southeast Asia |
Build green methanol/green ammonia bunkering networks along major shipping routes to meet international shipping emission reduction needs [8] |
24 |
Intercontinental HVDC Transmission |
Mismatched wind/solar resources + intercontinental grid interconnection |
Sahara–Europe, Central Asia–South Asia |
Transmit wind/solar power from desert and grassland regions to load centers via HVDC, enabling cross-continental clean power dispatch |
25 |
Highway PV Noise Barriers |
Highways + solar resources |
Global highway networks |
Install photovoltaic modules on roadside noise barriers to achieve both noise reduction and clean power generation |
26 |
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Heavy-Duty Truck Corridor |
Hydrogen energy + logistics corridors |
Western China, California (U.S.), Europe |
Build hydrogen refueling station networks along major freight corridors to promote the hydrogenation transformation of heavy-duty trucks |
27 |
Airport Carbon-Neutral Operations |
Aviation hubs + SAF supply chains |
Dubai, Heathrow, Pudong, JFK |
Build sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) storage and transport facilities, plus fully electric ground service equipment at airports |
28 |
Inland Waterway Electric Vessels |
Inland water systems + port towns |
Yangtze River, Rhine River, Mississippi River |
Promote electric/hydrogen vessels on inland waterways, supported by battery charging and swapping facilities |
29 |
Zero-Carbon Ports and Marine Alternative Fuels |
International port hubs |
Major global ports |
Build green ports under the global port sustainability-linked loan framework led by C40 cities and IFC, targeting $1 billion in financing within three years, preparing 50 zero-carbon port projects by 2030 [2] |
IV. Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Projects (30–34)
No. |
Project Name |
Resource Endowment |
Suitable Regions |
Project Overview |
30 |
Industrial CCS Cluster Hub |
Industrial clusters + depleted oil/gas reservoirs |
Northwest UK, U.S. Gulf Coast, North China |
Centrally capture industrial CO₂ and transport it via pipelines for permanent storage in depleted oil and gas fields [5] |
31 |
Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) |
Biomass resources + storage geology |
Brazil, Indonesia, U.S. Midwest |
Generate power from biomass while capturing and storing CO₂ to achieve "negative carbon emissions" [5] |
32 |
Cross-Baltic CO₂ Transport Hub |
Nordic biogenic CO₂ + storage resources |
Sweden, Finland, Baltic states |
Build a cross-border CO₂ pipeline network to transport biogenic CO₂ from Northern Europe to permanent storage sites, achieving negative emissions [8] |
33 |
CO₂ Mineralization Storage |
Basalt formations + CO₂ sources |
Iceland, U.S. Pacific Northwest, India |
Dissolve CO₂ in water and inject it into basalt formations, where it mineralizes into carbonate rock within 2 years for permanent storage |
34 |
CO₂ Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and Storage Integration |
Mature oil fields + CO₂ sources |
Permian Basin (U.S.), Middle East, Daqing (China) |
Inject CO₂ into mature oil fields to enhance oil recovery while achieving geological storage |
V. Smart Energy and Digital Carbon Management Projects (35–41)
No. |
Project Name |
Resource Endowment |
Suitable Regions |
Project Overview |
35 |
Zero-Carbon Industrial Park Integrated Energy |
Industrial clusters + integrated energy planning |
China, India, Southeast Asia |
Integrate wind, solar, storage, hydrogen, cooling, heating, and power systems to achieve park-level carbon neutrality [4] |
36 |
Data Center Carbon Efficiency Optimization |
Computing industry + carbon storage conditions |
Northern Europe, U.S., Guizhou (China) |
Build an integrated low-carbon natural gas power generation + carbon capture + energy storage system for data center power supply [7][9] |
37 |
Smart City Energy-Carbon Management Platform |
Urban infrastructure + digital technology |
Smart cities globally |
Establish city-level real-time carbon emission monitoring, forecasting, and optimization systems |
38 |
Grid-Scale Long-Duration Energy Storage |
Pumped storage/CAES geological conditions |
Mountainous regions, salt cavern areas |
Build pumped storage or compressed air energy storage facilities to support high-penetration renewable energy grids |
39 |
Hydrogen Community Integrated Energy |
Green hydrogen + district heating demand |
Northern Europe, Japan, Northern China |
Use green hydrogen as a medium to achieve integrated community power, heating, and hydrogen supply |
40 |
Carbon Asset Digital Trading Platform |
Financial infrastructure + carbon markets |
Global financial centers |
Build |
