Abstract
In this study, Shinshiro and Horai areas were selected as a local community with forest resources unused effectively since fraction of forest area in this community exceeded to 60%. First, tree types and their amount were investigated in those areas. Amount and types of recycled and wasted woody biomass were also investigated by hearing and questionnaires to sawmill factories in Shinshiro and Horai areas. Based on those investigation results, available amount of woody biomass to energy and material resources was estimated. Additionally, several energy production technologies such as combustion, gasification and so forth were also surveyed Consequently, a small-scale fixed bed gasifier with a gasoline engine was selected as one of the candidate. To operate this gasifier, fundamental thermal properties of the biomass selected were analyzed, and the gasification and power generation experiments were also conducted.
