Monday, April 7, 2014

KIOR Gates and Khosla



Approximately 6 months ago KIOR had this story that Bill Gates and Vinod Khosla would play a major role in funding an identical second plant in Columbus Mississippi that would double the nameplate capacity of KIOR alchemic diesel from pine trees for an additional investment of $225 million.



This was still when Vinod Khosla was selling and Bill Gates was still buying the 92 gallons of diesel per ton of bone dry pine story.   Since then KIOR has impaired and written down the cost of Columbus #1 “copy exact” facility to $40 million from $225 million.   This write down was made because the auditors demanded it as the plant is incapable of producing name plate capacity and FASB accounting rules require it.  

I had actually written to the board of directors of KIOR on July 13, 2013 that the plant should be written down as I predicted it would never be capable of reaching nameplate capacity.   The Green Machine knows thermodynamics and can smell fake rats from a mile away. Of course I got no word from the board of directors as Condi Rice et. al. were still fibbing about the “reality” of KIOR.  A good lawyer representing the folks who bought shares in KIOR and lost their money should ask for this email from the Green Machine to the board.

Who in their right minds will invest $225 million in Columbus #2 the “copy exact” clone of Columbus #1 after the write down of Columbus #1 by more than 80% because of production problems?    Vinod is still playing games with the folks in Columbus and is trying to extricate himself from the Magnolia State loans that were made to KIOR to build Columbus #1.    Vinod is in hot water and desperate to show the world he is not going to get a life sentence in a thermo court for three strikes in the bio fuels game. (Range, Cello, and Kior)

Bloomberg News who simply love Vinod Khosla, Al Gore and, other green illusionists still thinks KIOR has a chance.  Sadly none of the Wall Street analysts who follow KIOR and none of the financial press have a clue about thermodynamics.   There will be no Columbus #2 and Columbus #1 will eventually be put to sleep.  The real question is who will go after Khosla and his adviser Condi Rice or will they slink away?  I hope that the folks in Columbus find other jobs and simply forget the KIOR debacle.   As I have reported KIOR means wash basin in Hebrew.


“In the Holy Temple there was a vessel known as the kior — the laver or wash-basin from which the kohanim – the priests – washed their hands and feet before beginning their service in the Tabernacle or Holy Temple.”


It is doubtful that the priests will soon be rebuilding the third KIOR in Jerusalem and there is little doubt a second KIOR plant will be built in Columbus.  As for Condi and Vinod they will soon wash their hands of the debacle they promoted, hyped, and over sold.  Bill Gates lost $7.5 million helping Vinod six months ago and this is just a drop in the KIOR for the richest man in the world.

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