Feb. 17 Business Watch: A California soda ash plant to close; Current Chemicals launches from GE Lighting

One C&EN article that I am personally proud of is this 2009 piece about the impact shale natural gas was beginning to have on the chemical industry. At the time, the new supplies of natural gas were helping to drive down prices, making North America petrochemical producers more competitive. Companies started upgrading their facilities to process more natural gas–derived ethane feedstocks. As far as I can tell, C&EN was the first publication to identify the trend. What we didn’t foresee then was the extent of the trend: shale would lead to tens of billions of dollars in chemical investment over the next decade.We might be at another inflection point, as I outline in a new article this week. This time natural gas prices are creeping up. There is a lot of supply, but new markets such as liquefied natural gas exports and power consumption—due in no small part to artificial intelligence—are gobbling up those supplies. The sun isn’t setting on the era of cheap gas, but the light is dimming.Questions? Comments? Tips? Email Alex Tullo, C&EN’s senior correspondent for business, at [email protected] stories from C&ENThe US Food and Drug Administration has rejected bitopertin, a small molecule meant to treat erythropoietic protoporphyria, a rare blood disorder that makes sufferers sensitive to sunlight. Researchers looking for better Alzheimer’s disease treatments than amyloid drugs are turning to molecules that target tau, metabolism, and more.Humanoid robots make a big impression at a lab automation show in Boston.Under economic pressure, specialty chemical makers that serve