KiOR and Stion refused federal loan awards at Khosla Ventures' recommendation.
Unresolvable The public record could not settle it.
Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.
What would count as true or false
True: credible evidence (DOE Loan Programs Office records, company filings such as KiOR's S-1/10-K, or contemporaneous reporting) shows that KiOR and Stion each received or were offered a federal loan or loan guarantee award or conditional commitment, that each declined or withdrew from it, and that Khosla Ventures advised the declines. Mostly true: both companies declined federal loan awards, and KV's role in the decision is plausible but backed only by Khosla's or KV's own statements, or the award was a different kind of federal support (for example, a conditional commitment rather than a final award). Mixed: the claim holds for one company but not the other. Mostly false: the companies did not turn down the awards; for example, KiOR applied for a DOE loan that was still pending or was denied rather than refused, while a state loan (such as Mississippi's) went ahead. False: neither company was offered a federal loan award, or both accepted and drew on one.
Set before the research began.
Evidence (5)
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E1 STATUS CHART Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance U.S. Department of Energy, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance · 17 November 2011
“Department of Energy Loan Guarantee to Kior, Inc for Biorefinery Facilities in Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas”
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E2 STATUS CHART Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance U.S. Department of Energy, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance · 17 November 2011
“EA cancelled; applicant withdrew application for a loan guarantee.”
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E3 U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Impact Statements and Environmental Assessments Status Chart U.S. Department of Energy, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance · 17 November 2011
“Department of Energy Loan Guarantee to Kior, Inc for Biorefinery Facilities in Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas”
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E4 Stadiums, Hackers and Oil - Mississippi Free Press Mississippi Free Press · 15 February 2011
“DOE gave KiOR a term sheet for a loan guarantee, which is not an assurance that KiOR will receive a loan, KiOR CEO Fred Cannon said in a statement.”
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E5 Stadiums, Hackers and Oil - Mississippi Free Press Mississippi Free Press · 15 February 2011
“Houston-based biofuels startup KiOR announced Feb. 3 that it is close to receiving a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy for its investments in production plants that convert wood chips into a synthetic crude oil substitute.”
Reasoning
E4 and E5 show that KiOR received a DOE term sheet for a loan guarantee in early 2011, and a DOE NEPA status chart (E1/E3) lists a loan guarantee to KiOR. E2 records that one applicant withdrew a loan guarantee application, but nothing in the quote links that line to KiOR. None of the evidence covers Stion or any advice from Khosla Ventures on declining an award, so the claim cannot be settled.
Cite this claim
Vinod Khosla, “KiOR and Stion refused federal loan awards at Khosla Ventures' recommendation.” (said 14 January 2014). Verdict: unresolvable. Reliability API, claim c_3146a97429b4, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_3146a97429b4
This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.
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