Barcelona is not far from the Pyrenees but now it wants to build an artificial ski slope on the shores of the Mediterranean. In 2015 residents will be able to switch from beach to ski-wear without leaving the city.

Many people have heard of Ski Dubai, the emirate's indoor ski resort on the edge of the desert. To amuse tourists and rich Emiratis, this energy extravaganza produces 30 tonnes of snow a day.

The Dutch company behind Barcelona's Snow World project says the complex will be carbon-neutral. With scope for ice-skating and skiing, the 39,000-square-metre dome will be part of a vast redevelopment scheme for the southern part of the city.

Barcelona city council has launched two huge projects for the sustainable redevelopment of the Marina del Prat Vermell industrial estate and the adjoining Zona Franca. A new residential neighbourhood with a broad social mix will be built, with public amenities and parks.

Business activities will be integrated with the housing and connected to the city centre by the underground system. The two developments will be served by three plants generating heating and air-conditioning streams, fuelled by methanisation, solar power and plant waste from the city, primarily from Collserola, the world's largest metropolitan park. Dalkia, a subsidiary of the French conglomerate Véolia Environnement, has won the tender for this part of the project.

For the industrial cooling side, taking temperatures down to -10C, the designers plan to use the regasification facilities at Barcelona's liquid natural gas terminal.

This story originally appeared in Le Monde

• This article was amended on 11 January 2012. The original refered to the emirate's indoor ski resort as Dubailand; it is actually called Ski Dubai