Liberty Energy's thermal reduction is a sustainable management strategy because biosolids are converted into clean renewable energy; environmental impacts of other biosolids management options are avoided; air emissions are well below required standards using advanced emission control technology; and the life cycle costs are dramatically lower than the alternatives.
Liberty’s thermal reduction is a sustainable management strategy because sufficient energy is recovered from biosolids to operate the facility, with a significant amount of excess energy remaining for export to the grid. Liberty Energy Center will produce a net 9 MW of renewable energy, enough power for 8000 homes.
Biosolids contain the same amount of energy as brown coal. Proven technology is available to recover this energy that is now being discarded in landfills or recycled without regard for the energy value and other environmental consequences.
Biosolids do contain a number of compounds of concern with respect to some recycling practices. Emerging contaminants such as pharmaceutical compounds, endocrine disruptors and brominated fire retardants have been identified. Thermal reduction provides for assured destruction of these compounds, providing greater certainty in preventing future problems when advanced emission control systems are used. Liberty Energy employs such advanced emission controls.
Liberty Energy Centre is a regional facility with an advantageous economy of scale, as well as the ability to realize revenue from electricity sales for power produced by the energy generated from biosolids. Each of these factors contributes significantly to Liberty's ability to provide a dramatic reduction in life cycle costs. Independent studies have shown the Liberty costs to be up to half of those incurred by other biosolid management alternatives.
