Wood Fired Steam Plants in Georgia

During the 1970's, Georgia industry experienced problems obtaining fuel for operations on several occasions. In particular, the very cold winter of 1976-77 resulted in natural gas curtailments which virtually shut down many of Georgia's industries. Shortly after that time, Georgia Tech and the Georgia Forestry Commission embarked on a number of projects directed toward providing the use of wood as an industrial energy source. This paper will present an overview of these programs with an emphasis on three demonstration plants that were built with partial financing by state and federal government