China’s Ordos airport sets new benchmark for zero-carbon infrastructure

Mettis Global reported that Pakistan could draw lessons from China's zero-carbon infrastructure as airports and other large facilities look at renewable energy. Its example is the Ordos Ejin Horo International Airport in Inner Mongolia, which now runs on a carbon dioxide energy system with no fossil fuels, fluorocarbon refrigerants or cooling water. The technology uses CO2 to carry and convert power from wind, solar and heat drawn from air and soil. Professor Zhang Xinrong, linked to the Ordos Research Institute of Energy at Peking University, developed it to turn variable renewable output into steadier heating, cooling and electricity supplies.

Since starting operations in March 2025, clean energy has supplied more than 90% of the airport's energy use, and annual wind and solar output has passed 21 million kilowatt-hours. Heating and cooling energy use fell 60%, while operating costs dropped 50%, according to China Economic Net. The system also reduced natural-gas use by over 2 million cubic meters a year, while emissions fell by roughly 9,500 tonnes annually.

Before the change, the airport relied on separate gas boilers and electricity-hungry chillers, which together produced close to 9,600 tonnes of emissions annually. Ordos, historically a major coal hub with about one-sixth of China's coal reserves, is now pursuing low-carbon technologies, with 26 laboratories, 17 companies and 28 patents in the sector.