Chemical Week

S&P Global price reporter Daniel Workman and Global Methanol Alliance managing director Felicia Mester join podcast host Luke Warren for a discussion of key developments in methanol-to-jet (MtJ) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). They examine cost modeling that places biomethanol-based MtJ among the most economical novel SAF routes and considers how it could complement existing technologies facing feedstock and scalability constraints. Experts also explore how ReFuelEU and other regional mandates, revenue-certainty mechanisms, and coordinated long-term policies could close the cost gap, improve project bankability, and accelerate commercial deployment.

CW editor-in-chief Mark Thomas and S&P Global Energy Platts senior price reporters Mujidah Yahaya and Archit Singh join the podcast for discussion of key takeaways from EPCA 2026. Topics include securing supply for Europe amid disruptions, the shrinking European petrochemical industry and how Europe can set policy to springboard growth for the rest of the decade. The Chemical Week podcast is the industry's premier platform for wide-ranging discussion of issues impacting the global chemicals sector, hosted by the editors of Chemical Week and S&P Global Energy. Subscribe to the Chemical Week podcast on your favorite platform, or visit chemweek.com/podcast to view our episode archive.

CW specialties editor Sotirios Frantzanas joins the podcast for a short discussion of key takeaways from FECC 2026, the annual conference of European chemical distributors. Topics include the outlook for chemical distribution in Europe and how distributors are weathering the continent's prolonged industrial downturn.

Chemical Week publisher and S&P Global Energy head of conferences content Rob Westervelt joins the podcast for a discussion of CW's Billion-Dollar Club issue and the 2026 Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC). Rob and podcast host Vincent Valk discuss the competitive pressure created by China's massive state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and how incumbent producers are responding, exemplified by this year's Billion-Dollar Club ranking. Rob also discusses some key takeaways from APPEC.

AlkaLi Labs co-founder and CEO, Luis Valencia, and BioMade program director/technology, David Nathan, and program manager, Jonathan Valdez, sit down with Chemical Week specialties editor Sotirios Frantzanas to discuss biomanufacturing developments, including a new biomanufacturing program led by AlkaLi Labs with support from BioMade that is developing a scalable microbial process to extract lithium from oil-field produced water. The Chemical Week podcast is the industry's premier platform for wide-ranging discussion of issues impacting the global chemicals sector, hosted by the editors of Chemical Week and S&P Global Energy. Subscribe to the Chemical Week podcast on your favorite platform, or visit chemweek.com/podcast to view our episode archive.