Matt Blois
@mattblois.bsky.social
Reporter covering clean tech, climate tech, food, and agriculture for C&EN
Flavor chemists are out there making the world tastier for all of us!
June 5, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Flavor chemists are out there making the world tastier for all of us!
The cheap battery cathode material lithium iron phosphate (LFP) was invented in the US. But LFP manufacturing was perfected and scaled up in China. Now, some companies are trying to bring LFP back to North America: cen.acs.org/energy/energ...
Lithium iron phosphate comes to America
Companies are planning the first large-scale factories in North America for the inexpensive battery raw material
cen.acs.org
May 23, 2025 at 9:23 PM
The cheap battery cathode material lithium iron phosphate (LFP) was invented in the US. But LFP manufacturing was perfected and scaled up in China. Now, some companies are trying to bring LFP back to North America: cen.acs.org/energy/energ...
Several companies have engineered microbes to release it into the soil. Fertilizer made from fossil fuels has a massive carbon footprint, so the technology could have a huge impact. The products are already used on millions of acres, but some farmers are still skeptical: cen.acs.org/food/agricul...
Can microbes replace synthetic fertilizer?
Companies aim to curb pollution from fertilizer by replacing it with nitrogen-producing microbes. Some farmers and researchers doubt they work as advertised
cen.acs.org
May 23, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Several companies have engineered microbes to release it into the soil. Fertilizer made from fossil fuels has a massive carbon footprint, so the technology could have a huge impact. The products are already used on millions of acres, but some farmers are still skeptical: cen.acs.org/food/agricul...
Biobased chemical companies have been promising to slash the carbon footprint of chemical production by making chemicals with micorbes instead of refineries. But even after years of work, the industry hasn't lived up to those claims: cen.acs.org/business/bio...
Biomanufacturing isn’t cleaning up chemicals
Synthetic biology firms promised a low-carbon industry, but so far they haven’t delivered
cen.acs.org
May 23, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Biobased chemical companies have been promising to slash the carbon footprint of chemical production by making chemicals with micorbes instead of refineries. But even after years of work, the industry hasn't lived up to those claims: cen.acs.org/business/bio...
Wind and solar farms are proliferating rapidly, but completely switching to renewable energy will probably require cheap batteries that can store enough electricity for days. I wrote about some of the companies developing technologies to enable a renewable powered grid: cen.acs.org/energy/energ...
The search for long-duration energy storage
Companies face hurdles as they develop batteries that can store enough power for days
cen.acs.org
May 23, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Wind and solar farms are proliferating rapidly, but completely switching to renewable energy will probably require cheap batteries that can store enough electricity for days. I wrote about some of the companies developing technologies to enable a renewable powered grid: cen.acs.org/energy/energ...
Through 2023 and 2024, I followed the founders of 3 early-stage chemistry start-ups to understand how they transformed themselves from scientists in to CEOs: cen.acs.org/business/sta...
The rocky path from PhD to CEO
It’s harder than ever to found a chemistry start-up, but young scientists are still taking on the challenge
cen.acs.org
May 23, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Through 2023 and 2024, I followed the founders of 3 early-stage chemistry start-ups to understand how they transformed themselves from scientists in to CEOs: cen.acs.org/business/sta...