One of two finalist projects in the 2026 Spring Sustainability Fellowship — a graduate-level, sustainability research initiative from Impending Bloom exploring how complex systems can be made legible, actionable, and human.
Entegris makes the chemistries that make semiconductors possible. Albemarle mines and refines the lithium that makes batteries possible. Both sit upstream of the energy and digital transition — and both report on their sustainability differently.
This capstone applies the full force of GRI analysis, systems modeling, and supply chain forensics to a question neither an ESG database nor an annual report can answer on its own: which company’s disclosure architecture can withstand the regime change that is already underway?
Fellows build a comparative Causal Loop Diagram across both companies, a SysML state machine for Albemarle’s Salar de Atacama operations, a parametric model that propagates environmental inputs through to revenue, and a multi-agent AI research assistant that accelerates the forensic work without sacrificing transparency.
Semiconductor process chemistries and materials
EcoVadis Gold. MSCI A. SASB and TCFD reporting — and no GRI framework underneath. The question is whether the rating regime that gave Entegris top marks is the regime that procurement officers will trust tomorrow, as the EU CSRD pulls the supply chain toward verified, lifecycle-level data.
Lithium for batteries and electric vehicles
GRI “with reference” disclosures, an expanding Product Carbon Footprint verification program, and operational exposure in the Salar de Atacama. The question is whether verified lifecycle data and a Direct Lithium Extraction pivot can outrun a falling lithium price and a tightening community license to operate.
Toggle between the Causal Loop view and the Iceberg synthesis. The CLD shows six feedback loops connecting Entegris on the left, Albemarle on the right, and the cross-company verification pressure wave that links them. The Iceberg shows how surface events trace back to the structures and assumptions producing them.
The CLD shows feedback loops. The state machine shows which operational regime the company is in — and the SysML guard conditions that move it between them. Seven states from “Verification Moat Intact” to terminal “Moat Collapse”; eleven transitions modelling Direct Lithium Extraction as the proactive bypass. Click any state or transition for the full description.
A SysML parametric model of Albemarle’s Salar de Atacama lithium operation. Ten constraint blocks across five swim lanes — environmental, regulatory, operational, strategic, financial — propagate environmental inputs through to revenue. Engage Story Mode to watch four narrated scenarios evolve: DLE inflection, regulatory crackdown, price crash, and operational optimisation.