Founding and pilot plant Monolith was originally founded as Boxer Industries in 2012 by Robert Hanson and Pete Johnson.
Forbes reported that Hanson and Johnson did not have a specific plan when they started the company, but a goal of "finding a business idea that was both environmentally transformative and financially sustainable".
Relocation In 2015, the company announced that it was building a new plant near
Hallam, Nebraska, named Olive Creek, with the capacity to produce approximately 14,000 tons of carbon black annually. However, the retrofitting project was later scrapped due to its cost and complexity. Hanson said an alternative use had been found, and the company later announced the hydrogen gas would be converted to anhydrous ammonia and sold as fertilizer.
Bob Kerrey, who formerly served as a US senator and as Nebraska's governor, joined Monolith's board in 2019.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced in December that it had invested in Monolith.
Expansion In June 2021, the South Korean firm
SK Inc. purchased a minority stake in Monolith, along with
NextEra Energy. The Lower Platte South Natural Resources District approved three new wells in July 2021, allowing the company to pump up to 420 million gallons of water per year. The new wells cleared the way for the Olive Creek expansion, with the company estimating it would be complete by 2026. Some community members expressed concern about the expanded plant's water use in the case of a prolonged drought. Monolith noted that in such a case it would adjust its water usage. As part of the permits, the company is required to monitor and report several measurements related to water quality and availability. Monolith entered into an agreement with
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in December 2021 to supply the tire maker with carbon black, which is used in approximately one third of all tires to improve durability. That month, the company also received a $1 billion loan guarantee from the
United States Department of Energy to expand the Olive Creek Plant through a program to support expansion of clean energy production. It was the first non-nuclear loan issued from the program since 2016. In July 2022, Monolith received another $300 million in funding, including investments by
TPG's climate fund, and Decarbonization Partners, which is a collaboration between
BlackRock and
Temasek Holdings. The funding round brought the company's valuation over $1 billion, making it one of the sectors' largest startups. ==References==