The trucking industry is looking to cut its large carbon footprint in the form of EV and hybrid big rigs. There are now almost 3 million tractor-trailers on the road using more than 36 billion gallons of diesel fuel each year, according to trucking industry experts.With diesel fuel prices rising once again, trucking companies around the country and in Baltimore are not only looking for ways to save money, but also save the environment -- and the answer may be in hybrid electric 18-wheelers.With a fleet of about 200 tractor-trailers, Baltimore's Marino Transportation Services, a family-owned trucking and transportation logistics company, felt it was time to look at what it could do to lessen the impact on the environment."We operate in a very carbon-rich environment. Trucking is historically dependent on carbon, but we at MTS feel it doesn't have to be that way going forward," said Joe Marino, sales manager at MTS.After some research, Marino found Hyliion, a company that is bringing hybrid and electric technology to commercial fleets. While Marino was interested in an all-electric big rig, he opted for a hybrid model as his company's routes are too long and loads were too heavy.Hyliion can outfit just about any long-haul truck for hybrid. The technology works with the rear axle generating electricity as the vehicle goes downhill. The electricity is stored in a battery, for which the power can then be used to assist going uphill, and most importantly, it becomes a power station for drivers that sleep in their cabs overnight, saving fuel and cutting down on exhaust."So, instead of idling your motor and emitting all those greenhouse gases for those eight to 10 hours that you're sleeping, we can now use the power that we generated through the trip that day, the power of the truck," Marino said.So, how does it drive? Nick Saban, area manager and driver for MTS, told sister station WBAL it handles like a regular rig."It's pretty seamless. The power is great. You don't feel any lag," Saban said.Being more conscious about the environment can also be good for business. Marino said they're trying to set the standard. Marino said thanks to Hyliion's technology, and a digital log kept inside the cab, MTS is able to help its customers cut their carbon footprints as well."Our customers all have (environmental, social and governance) initiatives to reduce their carbon footprints, and what we can do is with the alien product, we can give them weekly reports that show how many greenhouse gases we have reduced," Marino said.

PARIS (AP) — Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions rose slightly in December compared with the same month of 2019, indicating the sharp drop seen due to the pandemic was short-lived.

Figures released Tuesday by the International Energy Agency show emissions from the production and use of oil, gas and coal were 2% higher in December 2020 than a year earlier.

The Paris-based agency said a resurgence in economic activity coupled with a lack of clean energy policies mean many countries are now seeing higher emissions than before the coronavirus outbreak.

Scientists have previously calculated that CO2 emissions fell by 7% during 2020 as people stayed home because of the pandemic. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.

The agency says the rebound in emissions is a stark warning that not enough is being done to accelerate clean energy transitions worldwide.

“If governments don’t move quickly with the right energy policies, this could put at risk the world’s historic opportunity to make 2019 the definitive peak in global emissions,” said Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director. “In March 2020, the IEA urged governments to put clean energy at the heart of their economic stimulus plans to ensure a sustainable recovery. But our numbers show we are returning to carbon-intensive business-as-usual.”

Birol says this year is pivotal for international climate action, but the latest numbers are a sharp reminder of the immense challenge we face in rapidly transforming the global energy system.

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — There’s a lot of solutions out there that people like to talk about when it comes to climate change, but one that’s gaining a lot of traction is kelp.

The seaweed is more than just a slimy sushi wrap. It could be key to fighting climate change. Just ask Michael Doall, the Associate Director for Restoration & Aquaculture at Stony Brook University.

“Not only is the kelp soaking up nitrogen, it’s soaking up carbon. It’s doing photosynthesis just like plants on land, soaking up this carbon. So, it’s sequestering this carbon, taking it out of the water and then again, when we harvest the kelp, we’re removing that. We’re approaching one of our farm sites and it’s part of this study over the last three years. We’re helping farmers learn how to grow kelp and integrate kelp in their oyster farms,” said Doall.

Doall and his crew took us to see one of their kelp farms off the coast of Long Island. We joined them with some waders to get a closer look.

“Reach in, grab that line and just lift it up. We seeded this at the end of December,” Doall explained.

And we got to taste it too.

Back on shore, Doall's partner, Chris Gobler, the Endowed Chair of Coastal Ecology and Conservation at Stony Brook, explained why kelp is such an important asset in the fight against climate change.

“Most of the research I’ve done is on environmental pollution, things like climate change, ocean acidification, harmful algeal blooms, overloading of nutrients. And as it turns out, seaweeds, and in particular kelp, is sort of the remedy for all of these environmental insults,” Gobler explains.

Like Doall said earlier, one of the main things the seaweed does is absorb nitrogen and carbon in the water. CO2 in the ocean can make the water more acidic, which can cause damage in a number of ways, but it’s incredibly detrimental to shellfish.

That's why oysters may go better with kelp than cocktail sauce.

“Ocean acidification is the biggest threat to animals that make shells. You can create what we’d call a halo effect. So, you’d have a particular area where maybe the whole estuary is getting acidified, but in that area where you’re farming the oysters, where you have the kelp, you’re actually creating sort of a refuge,” said Gobler.

We wanted to get an even closer look at the kelp, so we dove in.

It’s an amazing plant that can grow incredibly fast. Doall expects the long string blades to be up to 12 feet long in a few months. They thrive in the icy waters.

Kelp isn’t the only solution to fight climate change, but Doall and Gobler hope it can be another tool for humans to use in this fight to save the planet.