All About Sol: The Tentacles of Obama’s Green Cronyism Reach Beyond the Department of Energy
by Whitney PitcherMuch has already been revealed about the Obama administration’s cronyism when it comes to the Department of Energy. 80% of Department of Energy green loans are tied to President Obama’s most prolific donors including the now infamous Solyndra solar panel company and the Robert Kennedy Jr connected Brightsource which also deals in solar energy.
The tentacles of President’s green cronyism extend beyond the Department of Energy though. The Navy recently launched its largest biofuel test ship as part of an effort to reduce the Department of Defense’s dependence on fossil fuels (emphasis added):
The Navy is investing more than $500 million in the budding biofuel industry with the hope that it will be able to supply enough alternative fuel so the maritime branch can cut its dependence on fossil fuel by 50 percent over the next decade, said Cmdr. James Goudreau, director of the Navy Energy Coordination Office.
The biofuel that went into the destroyer was a 50-50 blend of petroleum and a hydro-processed algal oil produced by San Francisco-based Solazyme, which has been changing the genetic makeup of algae to construct a new generation of fuels.
The US Navy reports that this roughly half a billion dollar investment is the “single largest purchase of biofuel in government history”:
Responding to that challenge, in August 2011, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Energy and Navy announced an intention to invest up to $510 million during the next three years in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced drop-in biofuel to power military and commercial transportation. While that investment awaits Congressional action, today’s announcement uses the existing authority – leveraging Defense Department procurement – to support this energy security goal.
[...]
“This historic contract is a major step forward for America’s energy security and the advanced biofuel industry in our country. Solazyme has delivered more than 360,000 liters of 100 percent algal derived renewable diesel to the U.S. Navy for their fuel certification program to date. The United States leads the world in advanced biofuel technology, and the Departments of Agriculture, Energy and the Navy have been instrumental in coming together to spur commercialization and grow our lead,” said Jonathan Wolfson, CEO, Solazyme. “We are honored to be working with the U.S. Navy and DLA-Energy in driving forward the Navy’s effort under Secretary Ray Mabus to source 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. And we are proud to be teaming up with Dynamic Fuels on this contract.”
Solazyme is not just any biofuels company, and its continued partnership with the Navy is not without crony connections. Its strategic advisor is T.J. Glauthier, Obama donor and part of President Obama’s transition team, as Solazyme’s website states (emphasis added):
TJ Glauthier is an advisor and corporate board member in the energy and “clean tech” sector. He advises companies dealing with the complex competitive and regulatory challenges in the energy sector today. He also served on President Obama’s White House Transition Team, where he focused primarily on the energy portion of the economic stimulus bill.
Glauthier’s government roots extend to the Clinton administration where he served as the Department of Energy Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer following a stint as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy, and Science for the White House Office of Management and Budget. Prior to being Solazyme’s strategic advisor and after his time as part of Obama’s transition team, Glauthier was part of the advisory board of SunRun, a solar financing company. SunRun provides solar financing to companies in California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Arizona, and New Jersey to make solar panels affordable for homeowners.
As Solazyme touts, Glauthier “focused primarily on the energy portion of the economic stimulus bill”. As part of the stimulus package, the Obama administration set up the 1603 Program through Treasury Department which “offers renewable energy project developers cash payments in lieu of the investment tax credit”. In October of 2010, just a few short months after Glauthier joined SunRun’s advisory board, SunRun secured a $6.73 million grant from this Treasury Department stimulus program, making in the ninth largest recipient of such programs through the December of 2010. The very bill that he focused on as part of Obama’s transition team was the very source of funding for the company he later advised. Funny how that works?
Solar panels, of course, have been shown to require a very energy intensive process to produce nearly negating any benefits from solar energies supposed renewability. The algae blend biofuels that Solazyme produces has proven to be less efficient than originally anticipated as well. A study from the University of Virginia showed that algae biofuels require more petroleum based energy to produce than other biofuels and generate more greenhouse gases. The actions of the Obama administration and connections to his crony TJ Glauthier only further confirm his willingness to reward his cronies with taxpayer dollars for junk science. Glauthier’s associated grants and funding, to the tune of more than half a billion dollars, show that the tentacles of Obama administration’s green cronyism reach beyond the Department of Energy.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
57 Comments
Nice job, Pip.
We find ourselves right back to the same point.
Government, in this case the executive branch, has delved into areas that it was never intended to operate. This is private sector material, where a company uses its own investor's willing contributions, as opposed to taxpayers, to bring a idea to fruition and then market it to everyone from the common man down the street to the Navy itself, and then either reaps the benefits of the risk taking or goes down in flames because it was a failed idea.
Economic freedom is what must be restored in order for Liberty to thrive again here in this country. The Liberty movement understands this and demonstrated that by pointing the finger at Congress and making attempt to solve problems like this one by CUTTING THE SPENDING.
From GunWalker to Solyndra to this, the ANSWER is to stop the access to all the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
Simple as that. Until we do that, until we stop the mindless and endless snatching of money from our pockets, forcing the paying of taxation to be voluntary based on spending alone, episodes like the one described here will only grow in size and scope (as it as been growing in both ways for the last century).
I am waiting for the announcement,,,,, " all U.S. Destroyers to be powered by cow flatulence"_Living through some strange days indeed.
there is absolutely nothing wrong with bio-fuel research.
As a matter of fact it IS the next frontier; particularly in disposable waste conversion. That said, IF the research is honest, and the company responsible to it's shareholders and the taxpayers, if necessary.
But after Solyndra anyone can be excused for not having much trust in a Stephen Chu led Energy Department. The best we can hope for is that all of their donors aren't crooks and we might actually benefit from this.
Likely? Probably not. We can only hope…
Our destroyers are powered by puppy kisses.
I'm actually looking forward to the day we can used the bodies of our fallen enemies for fuel….
Even more tentacles….Solazyme is supplied cellulosic sugars from BlueFire Renewables, Inc., who received an $88 million grant under the federal govt's stimulus program to build a plant in Mississippi. BlueFire has 7 full time employees and had net income of $264K in the first half of they year, with $1.6 M in assets. How can a company have $1.6 M in assets when they received $88 M from the govt?
Source: OC Business Journal 11/14/11
Just another example of crony capitalism in the "green energy" sector. It's a crying shame that we have to wait another year to start unraveling the tentacles of the stimulus behemoth and start writing the arrest warrants.
Nothing wrong with it so let it win through the market. Tax dollars should not fund it.
"there is absolutely nothing wrong with bio-fuel research"
The problem is it burns and releases soot which will no doubt be the next target of the nutjobs who will base their agenda on how they feel about that black soot, not the facts behind it. Think what would happen if an engine was invented that ran on tobacco leafs…it wouldn't be sold to the public. I use bio-diesel and the station I fill up finds itself the meeting ground for leftard envir nutjobs since none of them have an IQ over 5.
There is a much bigger return on investment for research that can destroy the DC status quo.
I see nothing good coming from this and it reminds alot of the failure E85 is. It is just a worse fuel overall compared to 100% petrol/diesel and to add, bio-fuels are expensive to make as well. This will just be another money pit we don't need and its all just like the false green image hybrid cars give people.
Here is a thought for our government, drill here stateside and use natural gas to. As natural gas would be a good, powerful and affordable replacement for diesel fuel in navel vessels. Or maybe, use nuclear steam power in the larger vessels beyond carriers and submarines. Either of those are vastly better and far cheaper than some expensive and inefficient bio fuel mix.
Listing to wackjob enviro-tards is like burning kittens.
why did we know you would come up with THAT bon mot?
We'll work on the proper recipe and get back to you…
agreed, absolutely…
the loons will always have windmills to tilt after ala Sancho Panza.
No matter. If it's good tech and works, bring it on…
nice reporting work.
So it IS yet another boondoggle. One can only hope that we get something out of it…
Didn't you here, next they will be powered by rainbows and pixie dust. The eco-idiots claim its the most powerful stuff on Earth and is cleaner than filtered water. The only problem is, we need to import such power sources from Neverland.
I can power a windmill with a 454 big block but that doesn't mean I should. As of the time of this comment there is absolutely NO other option that can survive in this market without the use of my tax dollars, nothing, zero, nadda and if there was the first thing our failing gubmint will try to do is find a way to tax it and that is why we will NEVER see water-to-fuel automobiles.
My friends at DARPA are already working on that…..
A truck-portable bio-digester….
Saw this the other day: 'Crematorium to Use Burning Corpses to Create Energy': http://www.theblaze.com/stories/crematorium-to-us...
Maybe the BTU output can increased by first dipping them in bacon drippings!
Zombie-fuel……awesome……
USDA huh? Just another boatload of million dollar bills going out the back door, like the latest Pigford round of payoffs. WTH doesn't fit in USDA's perview at this time? That agency is a damn slush fund, and nothing more nowadays.
I remember reading about this on Big Peace some time back, but I was sure that Boehner and the fellas in the House would put a stop to such craziness, after all they do control the purse… don't they?
I've read all about that algae technology, and it is cool to think it could work out some day, but forcing such a wrongheaded measure on the U.S.Navy is nuts. Natural gas would be a much better alternative. Nat gas engines have been time tested in all sorts of industrial applications.
And how much you want to bet Al Gore has a % holding in that company.
Kittens give me gas.
Yup, I've actually heard that term used….
"Obama administration set up the 1603 Program through Treasury Department which “offers renewable energy project developers cash payments in lieu of the investment tax credit”. "
OMG. OMFG. Could they be any more blatant?
Photo FAIL: USS South Carolina (CGN-37) was nuclear powered. And retired over a decade ago.
You are cooking them too long or adding too much butter.
That's just pure awesome….
To take license with an old expression: 'If wishes were horses, 'We' beggars could ride…' (…on the Commies, Crooks & Cronies gravy train!
PS.. never got to thank you a while back the excellent explanation re consumption vs national sales tax
I didn't see anything about reduced operating costs. I would have thought that would be important in a time of budget-cutting and austerity.
To quote Comrade Barry – "when is enough, enough?…"
Obviously, when it comes to his Regime and all the Commies, Crooks & Cronies – their hubris and boundless greed shows the answer is: "… there's never enough… Keep plundering and pillaging until the cupboard is bare and the carcass of the economy is pick clean!"
Green energy is just one of many 'plausible' scams they've used for the greatest and on-going theft(s) in world history!!
Well, in the abstract sense, you're correct in saying there's nothing wrong with bio-fuel research. As a species, we really do need to find a new energy paradigm to power our future. I'm all over that and a big, big fan of the nations of the world pooling resources to wrestle down the considerable problems associated with fusion power.
But in a strategic and tactical sense, I really have to question the wisdom of using our military as the proving ground for such experiments. Powering our military apparatus with fuels which won't be available around the world unless we make them available in various ports of call feels like a big mistake to me. Diesel may not be cutting edge fuel, but it's ubiquitous and an embattled ship can be assured of being able to buy (or even seize) suitable supplies of it in virtually every port in the world. An exotic blend of petroleum and "hydro-processed algal oil"? Not so much, eh? Ships powered with this fuel can only operate in theatres in which the necessary tenders can continue to supply them with fuel.
Not healthy military planning, in my humble opinion.
Gee, I thought it was unicorns galloping on gold-spun treadmills…LOL..;>)
I think the path of liar to social outkast to social reformer to legislature to congress to WH to jail is sounding better and better.
And the quasi-fascism just keeps on coming…
Absolutely… and don't forget the biggest single boondoggle/inside trader thief of all… Spooky Dude himself, George Soros…
Peter Schweizer is going to break it all down tonight, along with how Warren Buffett, on Glenn Beck…
…. It's almost 5pm & I'm going, now, to get a bowl of nuts and a cold drink in anticipation!….
Hey Pip, GREAT article!
This is the kind of well written, intensely researched reportage that the WaPo and the NYT used to publish when they had the goods on ANY politician. Too bad they now cover the backsides of Democrats. It only encourages corruption.
The real ship is the Spruance class destroyer Paul F. Foster (DD-964). Deriving fuel from seawater (actually the algae in the seawater) would be a great step forward but only if it works. Can a ship collect fuel while running operations or will it have to linger in a war zone while it refuels? Being a Tin Can sailor myself I like it much better when we're moving and not sitting still. As an engineer I can bet that the ship has to slow down considerably in order to harvest the ocean or risk tearing off the scoop. I also can't see how a ship can harvest enough algae to be truly useful. This ship made a 17 hour run. Yea! At what speed? How far can it travel and how fast with this new fuel? A lot of questions have not been answered. It would be embarassing to the memory of the Foster if it turned out to be another Chevy Volt.
That's the nice thing about using biodiesel, you can use it in any mix ratio from B2 (98% petroleum diesel, 2% bio) to B100 which is 100% biodiesel, gas turbines and compression ignition engine doesn't care. People forget that Rudolf Diesel used pure peanut oil for fuel in the very first diesel engine. I have a 1997 International with a 3406E Caterpillar and it runs much better on B5, B10 and B20 and gets slightly better fuel mileage than it does on petroleum diesel. I haven't found anywhere that sells B100 yet so I don't know how that would be but I do intent on finding out when I find it.
I use biodiesel in my 1997 International, its got just over 610,000 miles on the 3406E Caterpillar and it runs better, cooler, quieter and gets better fuel mileage using B5, B10 and B20 than it does using petroleum diesel.
As to being expensive to make, it depends on the cost of your feedstock and the percentage of oil in it. That is why there is so much interest in using algae as the feedstock, it contains much more oil than other feedstocks and has a much shorter growth cycle than other fuel crops.
As to natural gas, I'd luv to instal a couple of propane tanks on my truck and start using gas because I could improve my fuel mileage almost 25% BUT, thanks to the people who know better at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and write the regulations I have to abide by I can not legally do that. Also thanks to those very same people at the FMCSA and their undying concern for public safety, I can no longer carry MOUTHWASH with me that contains alcohol. I guess someone there figured out that people with bad breath drive better or something..
The reason they are going for bio fuel is because it can be stored in the same fuel tanks as the petroleum fuel, can mix with the petroleum fuel in any ratio without any loss of performance and when the ship gets to a refueling port that doesn't have bio fuel, petroleum fuel is used instead with no changes necessary, something that cannot be done with natural gas.
Also something else to consider about a warship, in a combat situation diesel leaks are much safer than natural gas leaks..
Yep, I did consider the safety factor of diesel/biofuel vs nat gas, but I had no idea the fossil fuels and bio fuels could mix without creating problems. This algae spawned fuel has been on the burner for a few years, and I guess we could think of this Navy experiment similarly to all of the innovations NASA has rocketed forward for mankind. Now I only have a problem with the cronyism lil o & co are perpetrating. I'm sure all his bundling friends are getting filthy rich off of US, while investing in this field. Will it be like all the solar and wind, declare bankruptcy after huge donations to his campaign? I think this could be some very expensive experimentation for the U.S. Navy.
Well, the navy and algae experiments started back when mr Obama was still a senator in Illinois so don't blame all that on him. Cronyism in America politics is older than America itself.
Personally as I've said in other postings here today I prefer to burn biodiesel in my 1997 International with a 3406E Caterpillar (610,000 miles on the odometer right now). When my truck was made diesel fuel had 3000 ppm sulfur and much more lubrication than today's 15 ppm sulfur fuel does and B5, B10 and B20 biodiesel with much more lubrication makes my truck run much better and get better fuel mileage..
I have experienced bio fuel a different way with E85 for petrol engines not diesel and the trucks performance, economy, range and so forth took a 25% reduction. In other words, it was a far worse fuel than than regular petrol. And before you ask, yes, the engine in the truck is E85 compatible.
Even with using algae as the bio source, it still takes up alot of land and energy to produce. If it was taken to large scale, the costs to maintain and produce a bio fuel then greatly increases as the means of production would be greatly needed to increase faster than it would be grow. What can I say, I honestly don't see a future for bio fuels and same with EVs. Neither has what it takes to be competitive and cannot perform as well as what we currently have today.
Just to add to the history of petrol and diesel engines. Was that originally, diesel was to run on some kind of vegetable oil and petrol engines were to run on ethanol. Yet, neither was used as when petroleum was discovered, it was both more powerful and cheaper to use and run than either of the two other fuels.
Comparing E85 and biodiesel is like comparing apples and oranges. Missouri uses up to 10 percent ethanol in gas so I understand where you are going with the E85 isn't as fuel efficient as using regular petroleum gas, BUT there is a sound reason for that, the car manufacturer just modified the timing and injection curves of existing engines so they will burn E85, they did not build engines to run on E85. When Formula One switched to 100% ethanol fuel all the teams said it wouldn't work, the cars would be down on power, engines wouldn't last as long and the fuel mileage would suck, all kinds of reasons not to switch, then after studying the issues they were facing and building engines to run on ethanol and not gasoline, the F1 engines now burn cleaner, last longer, make more power and get better fuel mileage than the gasoline engines did.
The reason is the energy density of ethanol is different than gasoline and an engine built to run on one will run poorly on the other.. Biodiesel and petroleum diesel's energy density are so close to each other it doesn't matter.
Back during the Carter administration the DOE (the same DOE that has repeatedly said that America was running out of crude oil and fracking wouldn't work) wasted millions of dollars studying the viability of algae to bio fuels and at that time they came up against all kinds of reasons why it wouldn't work including the ones you list above, but like everything else in the energy industry, things change and become more efficient otherwise we would still be burning peanut oil in diesel engines like Rudolf Diesel envisioned when he built the first one and kerosene in automobiles.
Henry Ford was a big promoter of ethanol, he saw it as another cash crop for farmers, but ultimately because of taxes and other issues petroleum has been cheaper.. Now all that said, I'm not an enviro-freak, I just think that if a domestic energy source can be developed economically, why not.
But one CG looks like any CG or DDG or FF to the land lubbers, you know. "N" or no "N."
A better picture would be just a mast in a sea of tax payers money swirling like a whirl pool. The Greens will have us back to sails if they have their way BUT I think oars would be better!
Boatswains Mates could crack the cat across the backs of the Greens we'd have doing the pulling at the benches! We should make em push our cars, too.
I saw a painting of South Carolina miss-named to one of the original "DLG" CGs by the artist. That aint even right!
Maybe they just UNREP with a tanker hauling muck?
$15 a gallon???
Shouldn't this karma-enhanced life-giving fluid be more expensive? Say $1000/gallon?
After all, the "right" people are getting the money.
And isn't that really what government is all about?
to Progressives, the military is either a meals on wheels to the third world, a place for social experimentation or a test bed for bad science.
Take your pick…
you certainly are welcome…
"I saw a painting of South Carolina miss-named to one of the original "DLG" CGs by the artist. That aint even right!"
Actually that could have been "right": SC was commissioned as DLGN-37 in Jan 1975, 5 months before the reclassification which redesignated all the DLGs as CGs.
Corporate welfare and subsidies for oil and gas dwarf the paltry sums the government spends on renewables. You should get your facts straight.before you mouth off. It makes you look like an idiot who doesn't know what they are talking about. Wouldn't it be great if Destroyers coul run on pig sh%#.
Off topic: anybody else catch the little jay dissing a question about the defense bill? Yes in their infinite wisdom the Senate OK'd dropping the ban on sodomy and sex with animals in the defense bill. Lovely….NOT
I don't think it's ever contemplated that the ship creates ful from algae itself. The algae is supposed to be creating fuel at its home (like algae pits on land, or a tanker ship outfitted to convert algae production to fuel), then transferring it to naval fueling points. One thing that bothers me is the $16 per gallon cost. I was under the impression that algae was far more economical than that.
DoD was working on synthetic fuels, in the same way the Germans did through WW2. That's using the Fischer-Tropsch method, and it works very well. The Air Force was using it as aircraft fuel, and it worked well. Then, in 2007,Congress stepped in and banned it! It worked, was proven, and was economical, and Congress banned it! We could be using it today, and not have to consider far less economical methods.
DOE BIOMASS PROGRAM AND ALGAE RESEARCHERS NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED!__ __Solydra story is opening a huge can of worms at the DOE LOAN GURANTEE LOAN PROGRAM. Its not just about the Solar loan guarantee program. Look at all the millions in fees collected by the DOE LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM with projects 20% completed. Also, an audit needs to be done on DOE GRANTS to individuals from the DOE that are now working in private industry. Very incestuous! There needs to be an audit on each individual loan program for amount funded and results! __ __The US taxpayer has spent over $2.5 billion dollars over the last 50 years on algae research. To date, nothing has been commercialized by any algae researcher.____The REAL question is: Does the DOE BIOMASS PROGRAM really want the US off of foreign oil or do they want to continue funding more grants for algae research to keep algae researchers employed at universities for another 50 years?____In business, you are not given 50 years to research anything. The problem is in the Congressional Mandate that says the DOE can only use taxpayer monies on algae research, NOT algae production in the US. So far, research has not got the US off of foreign oil for the last 50 years!__ __A Concerned Taxpayer
The Department of Defense was developing synthetic fuel for use in aircraft and ground vehicles. I was a public affairs officer at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, where we had a role in these developments.
Unfortunately, Congress stopped all work on this program the in 2007, on grounds that it generates greenhouse gasses in excess of conventional petroleum. As you might imagine, this law has stifled the quest for American energy independence (Section 526 of the Energy Security and Independence Act of 2007).
The process for turning natural gas or coal into fuel is known as the Fischer-Tropsch method. It was developed in Germany well before World War Two, and was responsible for fueling the German war machine throughout the war. It is used today by South Africa and China, which do not have a U. S. Congress to stop them.
The painting had the hull numbers 33 on the art trying to be passed off as the USS Fox — a Belknap class CG. Boy–was THAT weak!
But it was a fine painting of this ship photoed here.Except the hull number wasn't hers. Slice it this way or that–it ain't even right!
You must be logged in to post a comment.