National Algae Association Applauds Department of Energy Inspector General’s Recent Comments

Nov. 7, 2011 - PRLog -- In written testimony prepared for delivery to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday, November 2, 2011, Inspector General Gregory Friedman said the investigations have involved "various schemes, including the submission of false information, claims for unallowable or unauthorized expenses, and other improper uses of Recovery Act funds."

According to the Inspector General, the stimulus funding that the Department Of Energy received — more than $35 billion — was greater than previous annual budgets for the entire agency, most notably its $27 billion in funding for fiscal 2011.

"Our reviews have identified a fairly consistent pattern of delays in the pace at which Recovery Act funds had been spent by grant and other financial assistance recipients," Friedman said.

He also offered a critical talking point for opponents of the DOE loan guarantee program, which is the subject of a White House-ordered independent review in light of the failure of solar manufacturer Solyndra after it received a $535 million loan guarantee in 2009, saying that "The Loan Guarantee Program had not [been] properly documented and as such could not always readily demonstrate how it resolved or mitigated relevant risks prior to granting loan guarantees."  For the complete story, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67444.html#ixzz....

“I applaud the candor of the Inspector General in openly addressing some of the issues that have caused a lot of frustration, to say the least,” according to NAA Executive Director Barry Cohen, “and with the algae program at the Department of Energy in ‘transition’, we can only hope that 2012 will be the year for algae production, not algae research.   If we could just allocate 10% of the DoE’s funding from fiscal 2011 to production of strains that would result in algae biofuel production, we could be well on our way to energy independence and we would certainly make a dent in the national unemployment rate!”

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NAA's mission is to fast track commercialization of algae as an alternative fuel to reduce US dependency on foreign oil and to create jobs in the US through collaboration among algae researchers, algae growers, farmers and producers, and equipment manufacturers.