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Renewable pectin and cost-effective palygorskite (Pal) were used as raw materials to prepare hierarchically porous carbonized aerogels. The addition of cations (Ca2+) initiates supramolecular bonding of chains in the polymer and enhances the performance of the aerogel. Unlike the previous fragile biomass porous materials, the carbonized aerogels prepared this time showed excellent mechanical properties, with a compressive strength of up to 0.4 MPa at 80% strain. Dodecylamine (DDA) was loaded into the carbonized aerogel by the melt dipping method to obtain a stable phase change material (PCM) with positive performance. Furthermore, the chemical structure, microstructure, thermal stability, mechanical properties, heat storage performance, and thermal conductivity of carbonized clay/pectin aerogels and those of as-prepared composite PCMs were determined by various characterization techniques. The results demonstrate that inexpensive supporting materials can effectively improve the shape stability and thermal conductivity of composite PCMs. Meanwhile, the composite PCMs possess suitable phase transition temperature, reliable photothermal energy storage capacity, and excellent shape stability. The energy storage capacity and reliability of those cost-effective carbon-based form stable phase change materials (FSPCMs) reveal their tremendous application potential in solar energy utilization. • Resourceful raw materials were prepared as support with a simple method. • Palygorskite enhances the shape stability of composite phase change material (PCM). • Carbonized aerogel has an excellent mechanical property (0.4 MPa at 80% strain). • The composite PCM has a phase change enthalpy of 161.8 kJ kg−1 (after 300 cycles). • The photothermal conversion efficiency of composite PCM enables reach up to 77.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]