Algae: The Problem Is Not Policy - The Problem Is Politics

 
HOUSTON - Feb. 3, 2015 - PRLog -- In our humble opinion, the Department of Energy’s Biomass Program is nothing more than a sham. The truth behind the program is that ALL of the funds allotted to that program are dedicated and restricted to developing technologies. It doesn’t matter who is in charge of the program – until someone is willing to admit that the $2.5 billion in technologies that the US taxpayer has already spend are virtually useless until and unless they have commercial value and they cannot and will not have any value sitting in a university lab. At this point, continuing to support research is a waste of time and money, but those in charge are unwilling to ask Congress to change the funding mandate, which is 30 or 40 years old. They think lobbyists should be hired to do what I as a voter thinks they should do themselves. What has been created in labs, at lab scale, does not scale for commercial use, and nobody at the DoE is willing to admit that fact. Rather, they are assuming that we as a nation are stupid enough to pay for researchers and for lab scale equipment and a bunch of maybe’s and empty promises.

The financing mechanism is equally flawed – only the US government would offer loan guarantees ONLY if the lender making the loan is The Federal Bank, another government entity. This has limited funding to legitimate algae producers because the government bank will not make a loan so the government guarantee will never be issued to support the loan. Imagine telling JPMorganChase that the loan they’re offering to make, after conducting more due diligence than the government bank knows is even possible, isn’t good enough to qualify for the loan guarantee that the DoE is touting that it is offering.

Algae lobbyists, the Department of Energy, and apparently the organizations supporting them are apparently all clueless about large scale algae production, commercialization, deployment and business in general. Business education 100: Business plans based on tax credits and incentives are flawed. But the companies that are receiving government funds – preferably in grants so they don’t have to be repaid - are primarily concerned about raising money to cover their salaries and those of the writers of their press releases, and how they cannot be held accountable for anything they say or do. Now they are blaming Big Oil for their algae-based fuel woes. We are sorry to have to remind them, but Big Oil invested significant dollars in the ‘golden child’ projects – the ones that were supported by the DoE, press releases and claims that were later found to be untrue. Why should Big Oil continue to support what is sometimes referred to as ‘air’?

Sadly, other countries have already seen the light and are splitting their efforts between research/development AND deployment. If the US had spent money on commercialization and deployment of algae farms and not in supporting university projects that were fully funded but never completed, the price of fossil fuels would not be the issue of the day. Even sadder is the fact that the DoE has removed the mechanism that provided transparency for their spending – after realizing that they made awards based on inaccurate or perhaps hopeful applications. US taxpayers have received nothing but glorified press releases about the promise of algae-based fuels. Taxpayers continue to ask: “Where are the promised algae fuels?” The answer is: Canada, Australia, Israel, Spain, India and China.

Everyone assumes that they don’t need morals or scruples – that their characterization of the truth doesn’t have to be 100% accurate because nobody else’s is, because there is no level of accountability, and there are no consequences for the failure to be honest.

“Indeed, investment in research, development and demonstration makes the most sense in times of plenty. We know the future holds higher prices – developing low-cost, sustainable solutions now is the best way to hedge.” Research, development and demonstration is NOT commercialization and deployment. How can any lobbyist or algae researcher know the cost of production of fuels if neither are in commercial algae production? Smart money wants to see commercial results, not the next white paper. If Algenol is successful, why are they going to India? If the Sapphire Energy project was successful, why are they in China?  Both received federal grants – money they don’t have to repay.  Shouldn’t they be building in the US and creating jobs here?

Is there anything in algae that cannot be financed without another algae research grant or tax incentive? Grants and tax incentives have not had any successes in algae biofuels to date. Government algae fuel farms have been located on private property with limited or no information on results. Entire algae research management teams have been replaced and now DoE Algae Biomass Research Grants are non-existent so lobbyists are trying to extract funding from the USDA and EPA.  The Department of Defense made a successful investment in algae for jet fuel – the company that reaped the financial benefits is now making cosmetics!

Can anyone prove a biofuel business model has been successful on tax incentives and research grants? If so, the National Algae Association would like that information.  It’s not policy paralysis in Washington. The problem has been that there is a congressional mandate that only allows politicians to fund more algae research and NOT commercial algae production. The DoE Algae Program has known this for decades and decided to put their heads in the sand, telling people to hire lobbyists.

NAA proposes the elimination of the DOE Algae Biomass Program as it currently exists and suggests that new leadership, capable of deployment, get the job done.  The researchers need to be replaced with private industry individuals who know how to run a business.  Once private industry has control of all those algae fuel technologies that are now sitting on shelves in Washington and at government and university labs throughout the country, US citizens will see real commercialization and deployment of algae-based fuels in the US.

We believe we will never get off of fossil fuels until commercially-proven viable algae-based fuels produced in the US are available. We call out and encourage all commercially-minded algae researchers, algae producers and equipment companies to join our Algae Manhattan Project for Fuels to get the job done.
End
Source: » Follow
Email:***@nationalalgaeassociation.com Email Verified
Tags:Algae, Algal, Biofuel, Department Of Energy, Oil
Industry:Energy, Government
Location:Houston - Texas - United States
Account Email Address Verified     Account Phone Number Verified     Disclaimer     Report Abuse
NationalAlgaeAssociation News
Trending
Most Viewed
Daily News



Like PRLog?
9K2K1K
Click to Share