With some 10 million discarded tires being consumed each
year at dedicated tire-to-energy facilities,
tire derived fuel (TDF) technology is an
effective alternative energy source to coal, oil, wood
and natural gas. It is used by cement kilns, pulp and
paper mills and power plants across the continent to
conserve vast amounts of natural resources, according to
Jeffrey Kendall, CEO of
Liberty Tire Recycling.
TDF is essentially shredded tires that are processed to
rid them of steel and fiber material, creating fuel
chips that produce 25 percent more energy than coal
while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 19.5 percent,
he says.
“Based on more than a decade of testing, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency recognizes the use of
TDF as a viable alternative to the use of fossil fuels,”
Kendall continues.
“TDF is one of several viable alternatives to prevent
newly generated scrap tires from inappropriate disposal
in tire piles, and for reducing or eliminating existing
tire stockpiles,” he says.
Liberty provides enough TDF to generate
100 percent of the electricity needed to power a city of
153,000 people – equal to the population of Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., says Kendall.
When used as an alternative energy source, TDF generates
up to 16,000 BTUs per pound with lower moisture, sulfur,
nitrogen and ash than fossil fuels, he reports.
Potentially, according to Kendall, all of the scrap
tires annually produced in the U.S. could provide an
energy source equivalent to 13 million barrels of crude
oil.
Liberty currently reclaims more than 130 million tires
each year throughout the U.S. and Canada, creating about
1.5 billion pounds of recycled rubber.
For more information, visit www.libertytire.com.
