D.O.E. Loan Program That Funded Solyndra ‘Flop’ Will Earn $5 Billion
Bloomberg : “The U.S. government expects to earn $5 billion to $6 billion from the renewable-energy loan program that funded flops including Solyndra LLC, supporting President Barack Obama’s decision to back low-carbon technologies.”
“The results contradict the widely held view that the U.S. has wasted taxpayer money funding failures including Solyndra, which closed its doors in 2011 after receiving $528 million in government backing. That adds to Obama’s credibility as he seeks to make climate change a bigger priority after announcing a historic emissions deal with China.”
“A $5 billion return to taxpayers exceeds the returns from many venture capital and private equity investments in clean energy, said Michael Morosi, an analyst at Jetstream Capital LLC, which invests in renewable energy.”
“’People make a big deal about Solyndra and everything, but there’s a lot of VC capital that got torched right alongside the DOE capital,’ Morosi said. ‘A positive return over 20 years in cleantech? That’s not a bad outcome.’”