Fossil fuels,\Nlike coal, gas, and oil,
are used to produce\Nelectricity, heat our homes,
and power gasoline engines.
But when they're burned\Nto create energy,
they release carbon\Ndioxide into the air.
And it's that kind of CO2 that\Nscientists blame for a number
of environmental problems.
There are several\Norganizations working on ways
to deal with CO2 emissions.
Some focus on switching\Nto other forms of energy.
Others focus on\Nremoving existing
CO2 from the atmosphere.
You're about to see one.
There are concerns\Nthat ropes of kelp
could harm marine\Nlife or passing ships.
And it's not known yet\Nwhat kind of impact
these masses could\Nhave on the ocean floor
when they're sunk down there.
But they are believed to be a\Nway to capture CO2 from the air
and bury it for centuries\Nin the deep blue sea.
MARTY ODLIN: Kelp is seaweed,\Nalso called a macroalgae.
And kelp is one of the fastest\Ngrowing things in the world.
It pulls carbon in\Nat the fastest rate
of any species in the world.
Running Tide is an ocean-based\Nclimate solutions company.
We're trying to use kelp,\Nwhich is like a natural way
to pull carbon out\Nof the atmosphere
and sink it to the deep ocean.
Trees are fantastic,\Nbut land-based solutions
for carbon removal run into some\Nsort of spatial constraints.
We don't have those\Nin the ocean really.
So it's a fantastic place\Nto pursue climate solutions.
The process starts\Non land in a hatchery
in a controlled\Nenvironment, where
you can really accelerate the\Npropagation of the kelp seed.
And then we put it\Nout into the water.
We have teams working on\Nthe biodegradable buoy.
After the kelp grows, the\Nbiodegradable buoy will
dissolve and lose its buoyancy.
And by then, the\Nkelp is so heavy
that it sinks to\Nthe ocean bottom,
sequestering the carbon\Nfor 1,000 plus years.
Every chance we get, we\Nlike to get out on the boat
and have a look.
It's getting thick too, huh?
Do you see the source\Ntissue developing anywhere?
Three months ago we put\Nthis kelp in the water,
and it's just like a single\Nstring of kelp-seeded line.
And three months later,\Nyou have like 1,000 pounds.
There's nothing like\Npicking out the line
and feeling like 1,000\Npounds of weight on it,
and just being, like, all right.
Like, we're doing the job.
We're getting the work done.
Wow.
Whoa.
Growing up in a\Nfishing family, I've
always been interested\Nin how things
want to grow in the ocean, how\Nproductive the ocean can be.
Being a surfer, you\Nbecome very aware of how
powerful the ocean is.
So I think that I was just aware\Nthat kelp could be a solution
to the carbon crisis.
How long is that, Rob?
ROB: Probably nine feet.
MARTY ODLIN: Nine\Nfeet in three months.
How do we know that\Ngrowing this much kelp
is not going to disrupt\Nthe ocean ecosystems?
That's a fantastic question.
It's a question we ask\Nourselves every day.
And we're working with\Nsome of the best scientists
in the world to study\Nand model out what
effects this would have.
And if we're going to have\Nany undue negative effects,
like we're not going\Nto do it, right?
How do we know that the kelp\Nis not going to come back up?
Well, if you sink to the\Nbottom of the deep ocean,
say, 12,000 feet, that's under\N5,000 pounds of pressure.
For instance, just\Ncarbon dioxide
under that much pressure is\Nactually heavier than water.
So gravity works\Neverywhere all the time.
So it stays down.
Every industry in\Nthe world will have
to change how it\Noperates in order
to reduce its carbon emissions.
There are a lot of really\Nprogressive companies out there
that want to minimize\Ntheir carbon footprint.
So they'll buy what's called\Na carbon credit from us.
And we'll go remove\Nthe carbon for them
to offset the carbon they're\Nemitting to run their business.
Hopefully, this turns into\Na revenue-generating machine
for us because if we can\Ndemonstrate that we can make
a profit doing this, then we\Ncan pull in more investment
and grow the business bigger\Nwhere we're really making
an impact on the climate.