Biomass, especially that derived from municipal solid waste, is not being utilized to its full potential due to the fact that it is being produced little by little from a wide range of sources, making it difficult to collect and transport. Not only does the use of biomass help to promote a society with an environmentally sound material-cycle, it also promotes the realization of a low-carbon society as it works to curb the effects of greenhouse gases when incorporated as an alternative to fossil fuels.
The Basic Law for Promoting the Utilization of Biomass was approved in June 2009. Prior to this, the Fundamental Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society and the Law for Promotion of Recycling and Related Activities for Treatment of Cyclical Food Resources had also enforced. Further goals for the introduction of biomass utilization were set within the Kyoto Protocol Target Achievement Plan against Global Warming.
Other measures supporting the use of biomass include support by central government to local governments in the form of financial subsidies such as the Subsidy for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society and the Subsidy for Countermeasures on Global Warming, Waste Disposal and Treatment Facilities. Moreover, we have done evaluations on the entire waste disposal and treatment system being conducted through the Waste Biomass Promotion Project and we also provide support to scientists and engineers working on this issue through the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research in Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society.
Waste management policies in Japan have been launched in order to dispose of organic waste in a safe and sanitary way. We must also promote the utilization of waste biomass in a manner that is hygienic and environmentally sound.

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Set against a background of rising global energy demand, there is a concern that the secure and sufficient procurement of fossil fuels, both in quantity and quality, will become more and more difficult. In addition, in order to make the creation of a low-carbon society a reality, it is necessary to promote effective utilization of non-fossil energy resources, including biomass energy and enhanced programs for conservation of energy. This paper illustrates the point of view of energy policy development, focusing most importantly on the continued introduction of renewable energies, such as biomass energy, as well as strategies related to recent developments in biomass energy utilization.

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Biomass is a renewable and carbon-neutral resource that is able to fix carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. Recently, it has gained attention as an alternative fuel resource, from the standpoint of mitigation of global warming and conservation of fossil resources. In Japan, however, biomass resources are very limited and biomass utilization is seen to be a dispersive energy source in terms of sustainable production and utilization. Research and development on biomass requires more intensity and concentration in order to successfully convert biomass into energy that is highly efficient.
The Biomass Technology Research Center (BTRC) at AIST has been conducting studies for the technical development of biomass, as well as designing social systems using biomass utilization as a means for establishing sustainable societies, not only in Japan but throughout the world. BTRC conducts this research in terms of three important targets : 1) Ethanol production from woody biomass ; 2) The process of Biomass to Liquids (BTL) ; and 3) Studies on Biomass Total System.

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Osaka Gas has decided to conduct a joint research project to use the bio-gas generated at the Kobe Higashinada Sewage Treatment Plant as city gas in collaboration with Kobe City and Kobelco Eco-solutions Co., Ltd. This joint research project aims to directly inject bio-gas from sewage treatment plant sludge (purified as per specifications for city gas) into city gas pipelines for wide distribution to local consumers. The project will be supported by subsidies from Toshi-gas Shinko Center.
Osaka Gas is also developing a hyper-thermal hydrolysis treatment for municipal solid waste coupled with a dry anaerobic digestion process for high efficiency in the bio-gas production process. Continuous testing at the Kyoto bio-gas plant, using a ton of waste per day, resulted in a 20% increase in bio-gas production, a 50% decrease in organic residues, and a 50% decrease in the waste water treatment volume. These are the recorded effects of the hyper-thermal hydrolysis treatment process.

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Utilization of biomass is one of the important challenges faced when attempting to realize low-carbon, sound material-cycle societies. Since biomass is a renewable, carbon-neutral resource, it is able to fix carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.
In particular, the utilization of biomass from municipal solid waste, such as organic waste materials and post-consumer paper items, is seen to be extremely important and beneficial. It does not compete with food, waste which requires special treatment and recycling within the resource cycle in order to be safe for the environment.
Biomass from municipal solid waste has not, however, been utilized to its full potential due to the fact that it is discharged little by little from many sources, and is also difficult to collect and carry.
Regarding legislation to promote alternative energies and the use of biomass, the Bill on the Promotion of the Use of Non-fossil Energy Sources and Effective Use of Fossil Energy Source Materials by Energy Suppliers and the Basic Law for Promoting the Utilization of Biomass were both approved in 2009.
With this as the background, this paper introduces recent progressive initiatives concerning the utilization of waste biomass by various local governments and regional technology research being conducted in the city of Kyoto.

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