Company's carbon credits raise questions about unproven ocean technology to fight global warming

In this photo provided by Gigablue, circular structures called booms containing particles engineered by the company Gigablue, float near a research vessel in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Dunedin, New Zealand, as part of a project to grow tiny organisms known as phytoplankton that absorb carbon dioxide from the ocean. — Gigablue via AP

The startup Gigablue announced with fanfare this year that it reached a historic milestone: selling 200,000 carbon credits to fund what it describes as a groundbreaking technology in the fight against climate change.

Formed three years ago by a group of entrepreneurs in Israel, the company says it has designed particles that when released in the ocean will trap carbon at the bottom of the sea. By "harnessing the power of nature,” Gigablue says, its work will do nothing less than save the planet.