“Vinod, you are clueless”: activists hurl insults at Vinod Khosla over new three-part article on Biomass

“Vinod you are still totally clueless” and “there will be pie in the sky by-and-by” were among comments hurled at billionaire investor Vinod Khosla in response to a second three-part series of articles posted at Grist.

The second series focused on Biomass, including regulatory standards , “better agronomy for energy crops” , and “cellulosic ethanol yields“.

Among dozens of responses, writers accused Khosla turning “self delusion” on carbon cycles into a “mass delusion”, adding comments such as “cellulosic ethanol is such BS and that’s not just for the fertilizer.”

Among other proposals, Khosla endorsed a CLAW standard for sustainable production of biomass:

C — COST below gasoline

L — low to no additional LAND use; benefits for using degraded land to restore biodiversity and organic material

A — AIR quality improvements, i.e. low carbon emissions

W — limited WATER use,

Khosla was but was pilloried by critics of CLAW for ignoring soil degradation from fertilizers and the practice of monoculture. Other writers questioned where all the trucks would come from, to transport miscanthus or switchgrass from field to refinery.

Earlier this month, the Biofuels Digest Editorial Board voted Khosla a bronze Biofuels Digest Medal for Highest Achievement in Biofuels in 2007, along with George W. Bush, Elliott Mannis (CEO, D1 Oils), Bob Dineen (President, Renewable Fuels Association), Jeff Broin (CEO, Poet), Al Gore, Dr. Chris Somerville (scientist, University of California) and Ban Ki-moon (Secretary-General, United Nations). Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil, received the silver, and Don Endres, CEO of VeraSun Energy, received the Gold medal.

At the time of the award, Biofuels Digest editor Jim Lane commented, “Vinod Khosla was active in investments such as Cilion and Gevo, but also was highly active in philanthropic endeavors related to India and fuel security.” Khosla spent a good part of 2007 on the stump, advocating continued protection of the US ethanol industry as well as defending ethanol against some the claims by ethanol’s detractors regarding the net energy output from ethanol production.

Like the industry he supports and in some ways commands, it was a year of consolidation at his first-generation ethanol investments, although he made a splash with his partnership with Sir Richard Branson in Cilion, which is building numerous 55 Mgy ethanol plants in California among other locales.

Among his investments in the news, LS9 is developing a new synthetic biofuel from microorganisms. The venture predicts that its process will yield 50% more energy from the same feedstocks as used today, will use 65% less energy in the process, can be transported by existing oil pipelines and used in non-flex-fuel engines. He joined DAG Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and TPG Ventures in a $70 million round for Amyris Biotechnologies. Amyris creates designer microorganisms to increase the efficiency of converting biomass into fuels.

Khosla has not publicly discussed his 2008 investments or plans, but one can be sure that his moves will attract attention and make a difference. He contributed the maximum $2300 to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Barack Obama and John McCain. The McCain contribution is particularly surprising, considering that McCain is the leading Presidential candidate opposed to ethanol subsidies.

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