2012
2012
Monolith was founded with the belief that you could build both a profitable company and create a cleaner world through technology.
In 2012, Rob Hanson and Pete Johnson founded the company with a simple mission to be environmentally transformative, technologically advanced and financially viable. This transformation would begin by using electricity to cleanly convert natural gas to carbon black – a chemical vital to many everyday products. The other product of that process was hydrogen. This stood in stark contrast to the pollution-riddled, industry-accepted practice of converting decant oil or coal tar to carbon black using a furnace burning process.
2014-2015
2013-2015
Monolith’s Seaport pilot project in Redwood City, CA is built, making it the first new carbon black plant built in the U.S. in 50 years.
In 2015, Monolith’s Seaport plant began producing carbon black and hydrogen. Over the next three years, the company ran the plant to determine product range and reliability, demonstrate yield and stockpile samples for further testing.
2016-2017
2016-2018
Monolith successfully concludes its pilot program and breaks ground on its first commercial facility – Olive Creek 1 (OC1).
In 2016, Monolith broke ground for a first-of-its-kind commercial carbon black facility in Hallam, Nebraska. The state offered abundant natural gas reserves, a central shipping location and a unique partnership with the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD).
2019-2020
2019-2020
Monolith’s OC1 facility reaches mechanical completion and begins the commissioning phase.
In Q2 of 2020, Monolith reached mechanical completion of its commercial-scale plant OC1. The commissioning of the plant is now underway with customer deliveries of carbon black scheduled in Q4.
2020 & Beyond
2020 & Beyond
Monolith expands its Olive Creek facility and begins developing additional sites to serve global demand for carbon black and hydrogen.
With an average industry growth rate of 2–3% per year, the projected production rate of 194,000 tons of carbon black per year at Monolith’s first two production facilities (OC1 and OC2) will not create enough product to fulfill organic growth demand. In addition to organic growth, Monolith will continue to grow to meet customer and industry demand for greener, more sustainable products.
