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Wood waste for electric generation? by Professor Gene Wengert Q.
A.
Note that electric meters cannot run backwards and it is illegal to do so. But every electric utility is required to buy electricity from a producer, if the electricity is "clean" and on frequency, at a competitive price. Unfortunately, the price they pay is the price that it costs them to make electricity, which is (due to their large size) much less than the small gasifier/generator price, unless you can get a tax credit or government assistance. In other words, it is not economical to make electricity for sale, even in Alaska. The technology of gas generation from organics--wood, coal, cow pies, etc.--and then using the gas to power a diesel generator is well proven, however. (Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA had a neat set-up 10 years ago. And in WW II, gas generation was very popular in Sweden and many other countries, including the U.S.) It just boils down to economies of scale. Another good source of historic information is John Zerbe, US Forest Products Lab, One Gifford Pinchot Drive, Madison, WI 53705. Professor Gene Wengert is Extension Specialist in Wood Processing at the Department of Forestry, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Click on Wood Doctor Archives to peruse past answers. If you would like to obtain a copy of "The Wood Doctor's Rx", visit www.fdmbookstore.bigstep.com/ for more information. Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below? 
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