An American entrepreneur with big ideas for fighting global warming and hurricanes off the coast of Bermuda is fending off his critics in the scientific community.

?They are natural born sceptics,? Phil Kithil told from New Mexico where his firm Atmocean is based.

His researchers hope to exile harmful greenhouse gases to the bottom of the ocean using a battery of manmade pumps and natural occurring organisms called salps.

It?s a plan almost universally described as speculative, largely because, the pumps haven?t proven to work well and salps are not always adaptable to new habitats. Both issues are critical for Mr. Kithil?s plan to be successful.

But until the challenges outweigh the potential benefits, this self-described economist will keep plugging away, including another scheduled research trip to Bermuda.

?I?m the entrepreneur who says the upside potential is so vast that it is of course worth the risk to encounter these barriers. It?s worth continuing ahead,? he said.

The Atmocean theory requires an increased population of salps. It?s an organism that gobbles up algae soaked in CO2, then excretes what it eats in the form of a pellet that sinks to the ocean floor ? sending the CO2 out of the atmosphere.

But before the salp population can grow, more algae is necessary.

So his researches need to pump nutrient-rich cold water from the depths of the ocean up to the surface. That?s how more algae will grow. Theoretically those same pumps could also cool the ocean?s surface as a hurricane is approaching.

Cold water is the only thing that will stifle a hurricane?s strength. As Mr. Kithil?s published study is quick to point out, the possibilities are huge, ?although the undertaking is daring and costly, if successful, this technology offers potential enormous benefits,? the document says.

Atmocean has conducted seven field studies on its elaborate pump system which is powered by the force of the waves.

Three of those tests were carried out off the shores of Bermuda.

In one of those cases the pump went 500 feet deep and researchers concluded it ?actually worked and brought cold water up?.

On other occasions however, the pump failed mechanically. But Mr. Kithil is not deterred.

He thinks he can do better when his team comes back to the island to work with the team at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Studies.

There?s a trip planned for next summer, and he?s optimistic.

?Absolutely. Yes. We?re really going back and re-engineering the design strength ? materials, welds, all that stuff ? so we have a strong device that will perform as we expect it to.?

In the end, Atmocean may need dozens of pipes that go as deep as 1,000 metres.

It?s a huge undertaking which must at times seem insurmountable.

Perhaps Mr. Kithil confessed to long odds when he said: ?If the data shows it?s not feasible, then we?ll stop.?

But there?s no signs of him slowing down just yet.

While he sees the global warming benefits as a long-term goal, he thinks there may be an immediate interest in the hurricane application because of the huge potential savings for the insurance industry.

Plus the US Congress is supremely interested in protecting energy interests in the Gulf of Mexico from hurricanes. The Kithil research might help.

That?s why Atmocean will soon reveal a scientific model that shows a what-if scenario had the Gulf of Mexico waters been cooled by the pump system before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita raced ashore.