SOBE Concerned Citizens (SCC) was formed when residents found out that SOBE Energy Solutions LLC/ SOBE Thermal Energy Systems LLC was planning a questionable facility in Youngstown, Ohio.
What is SOBE Energy Solutions?
SOBE Energy Solutions is a Dublin, Ohio based, for-profit consulting company run by David Ferro, CEO. SOBE is marketing itself as a pollution-free solution to our plastic recycling problem.
Why is SOBE Energy in Youngstown?
SOBE Energy Solutions bought the defunct Youngstown Thermal, a coal-fired steam heat plant for $250,000. SOBE applied to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio as a heating and cooling utility that would provide steam heat for downtown Youngstown buildings. SOBE misrepresented its business when it applied as SOBE Thermal Energy stating it would provide steam heating “in the same manner and rate structure as Youngstown Thermal.” PUCO granted SOBE a permit to purchase Youngstown Thermal, at 205 North Avenue on November 16, 2021.
What is SOBE Energy’s plan for Youngstown?
At a public meeting on July 21, 2022, David Ferro revealed that his company would superheat chopped up tires and recycled plastics to create new plastic, synthetic gas (syngas) and carbon black for sale, and from the heating process create steam heat for downtown. He also revealed that SOBE would produce electricity to sell to a sub-contractor who would locate on site and mine cryptocurrency. At a public meeting on October 12, 2022 Ferro added computer waste to the feedstock he plans to superheat to create products for sale.
How would SOBE’s industrial process impact Youngstown?
SOBE Energy Solutions markets its superheating process as “Thermolyzing”, a type of “advanced recycling,” but research has revealed that this business and others are simply REBRANDING pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is incineration. There is pollution caused by this process, it is not a “closed system” generating no pollution.
 SOBE plant, Youngstown, OhioPhoto: SOBE Energy Solutions, a consulting company of Dublin, Ohio is in the middle of demolishing the old coal-fired Youngstown Thermal, LLC steam heat providing plant. Inside the truck trailer is a natural-gas fired boiler producing steam for downtown Youngstown buildings. Residents say, if you are taking over as a steam heat provider, do only that. |
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What are the concerns?
SOBE's plan will generate toxic air pollution right in the heart of our downtown. The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), a worldwide alliance of 800 grassroots groups from over 90 countries has published peer-reviewed scientific papers detailing the carcinogenic toxins that pyrolysis releases into the air, including: dioxins and furans - endocrine disruptors; mercury, cadmium, lead, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene which are cancer-causing; plus, heart and lung damaging volatile organic compounds and particulate matter. Air pollution is an invisible killer.
Rachel Meyer of Moms Clean Air Force
interviewed Youngstown resident in
November, 2024:
The many neighbors of the site of the proposed tires-and-waste-to-fuel and other products pyrolysis plant in the downtown at 205 North Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio 44502
Youngstown State University student housing and other establishments are almost right next to planned pyrolysis operations
Also within hearing distance:
Ohio Urban Renaissance Center
the City Jail
Domestic Uniform Rental
F D Mason Memorial Funeral Home,
Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church
Frieda's blues lounge
Charlie Staples barbecue
Club Switch
Catholic Charities Regional Office
KED Plasma Center USA
Union Baptist Church
Tabernacle Baptist Church
Holy Apostles Parish Church
