Tencent Carbon Quest Program Phase II Finalists Announced: 16 Teams to Address Global Issues via Global Solutions

On June 24, during London Climate Week, Tencent partnered with TED to host an event unveiling the final shortlist for phase two of its Carbon Quest Plan. Selected teams presented their technologies and discussed global climate initiatives with climate experts, policymakers, investors, and industry partners.

After 18 months of selection and evaluation, 10 cutting-edge low-carbon technologies were chosen from over 660 applications worldwide, receiving roughly 170 million yuan in pilot funding from Tencent’s Carbon Quest Plan. Another six innovations secured a total of around 10 million yuan through carbon credit pre-purchases, MRV support, or green premium subsidies.

The final 16 projects include four teams from China—Nanjing University, the Shanghai Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, and Sipeng Technology—alongside teams from Kenya, Belgium, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries. Since phase two of the Carbon Quest Plan launched in December 2024, it attracted applications from 54 countries and regions, with the global top 50 announced in October 2025. This final list reflects the plan’s core mission: solving global problems with global solutions.

Putting cutting-edge technology to work on real-world climate challenges

Xiao Wangjun, an assistant professor at Nanjing University’s School of Energy and Resources, leads one of the shortlisted projects in phase two of the Carbon Quest Plan: “High-Efficiency Charged Biochar Air Capture Technology Driven by Geothermal-PV Integration.” The project uses a low-cost charged biochar to capture carbon dioxide directly from the air through DAC technology. Beyond high capture capacity and low-temperature desorption, the approach taps into Kenya’s abundant geothermal and solar resources, significantly reducing energy use during carbon capture while balancing material stability with overall efficiency.

Kenya, as Xiao Wangjun noted, is one of the demonstration sites for phase two. Unlike theoretical evaluations, the Carbon Quest Plan focuses on tackling climate issues in real-world settings. Phase two spans four tracks: Carbon Removal (CDR), steel industry CCUS, manufacturing CCU, and Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES). Except for the manufacturing CCU track, each has dedicated demonstration sites that require teams to tailor solutions to local conditions.

Kenya was chosen for the CDR track because of its abundant renewable energy and favorable geological storage conditions in the central and southern rift regions. For steel industry CCUS, demonstration sites are in Handan, China, and Serbia, where partnerships with two traditional long-process steel mills enable thousand-ton-scale full-cycle trials. The Maldives, heavily affected by the climate crisis, provides a critical test bed for LDES, as managing grid stability with renewable power is a key challenge. Professor Zhu Jia of Nanjing University said: “The Carbon Quest Plan doesn’t just fund cutting-edge low-carbon technologies—it connects them with real-world scenarios, helping them move out of the lab.”

At London Climate Week, Xu Hao, Tencent’s Vice President of Sustainable Social Value and Director of the Carbon Neutrality Innovation Center, noted that many promising climate technologies fail to scale due to a lack of funding and real-world testing environments. The Carbon Quest Plan identified this challenge and, by collaborating with industry, investment, and ecosystem partners, provides capital, connects technologies with real scenarios, and helps viable low-carbon solutions cross the “valley of death” from lab to deployment—seeking more answers to the global climate crisis.

Xu Hao, Tencent’s Vice President of Sustainable Social Value, speaks at London Climate Week

Diversified support opens new collaboration paths for low-carbon technologies

Beyond direct funding and resource backing for 10 pioneering technologies, phase two of the Carbon Quest Plan supports additional climate innovations through carbon credit pre-purchases, MRV assistance, or green premium subsidies.

Huang Xinwo, Tencent’s Senior Director of Strategy Development and head of the Carbon Quest Plan, noted that phase two attracted many promising low-carbon innovations, but each team’s needs vary considerably. By diversifying support, the program tailors assistance to projects at different technical stages and along various development paths.

The team led by Zhang Zishuai of Peking University, selected for MRV support, focuses on ocean-based CDR. Their approach couples low-pressure electroadsorption with seawater desalination to efficiently convert seawater inorganic carbon into calcium carbonate—essentially building an “artificial coral carbon capture factory” for carbon removal. While the project earned recognition from global judges, MRV and cost remain major barriers to large-scale ocean carbon removal. To address the lack of MRV standards for this route, phase two of the Carbon Quest Plan provided MRV support and funding to advance MRV technology and standardized methods.

Tencent will also sign thousand-ton carbon credit purchase agreements with select teams. For technologies with long-term commercial potential that face near-term green premium challenges, the Carbon Quest Plan offers product green subsidies to accelerate downstream industry adoption.

Professor Jiang Peixue of Tsinghua University’s Department of Energy and Power Engineering, co-chair of the Carbon Quest Plan’s Expert Committee, considers the program’s global collaboration platform highly forward-looking. By connecting diverse stakeholders and supporting climate innovators through multiple channels, it reflects Tencent’s thoughtful engagement with climate issues as a technology company—benefiting industry partnerships, academic exchange, and project investment.

Group photo of phase two shortlisted teams for the Carbon Quest Plan

Huang Xinwo added that since its launch, the Carbon Quest Plan has drawn broad industry attention, with results from phase one increasingly visible. Phase two’s selected technologies will soon be demonstrated worldwide. Going forward, the plan will further leverage Tencent’s technological and ecological strengths to explore fresh climate solutions. Preparations for phase three are already underway, he revealed.

Phase two shortlisted projects of the Carbon Quest Plan