Niche Markets for Economic Revitalisation of Satoyama Forest ...

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form of solid fuels (chips, pellets, briquettes, and logs) 25 , liquid fuels (methanol, ethanol, butanol, and biodiesel), gaseous fuels (synthesis gas, biogas, and hydrogen), electricity and heat (IPCC, 2007). Globally, biomass currently provides about ten per cent of global primary energy but with over two thirds consumed as traditional biomass in developing countries for household use. (Hakusan City) Figure 6: Two Story House Built Using Wood Block Construction As the main materials used for the wood block construction are pre–fabricated, most of the on–site work is assembly. As a result, the construction period is shortened and construction costs are reduced, leading to lower cost of the finished products. 24 In addition, a pre–processed kit can be supplied and owners can undertake construction independently as the method can be well suited to various building types such as temporary homes, sheds, and toilets located in mountainous areas and disaster areas where road systems are not in place. Furthermore, wood block construction kits could potentially be exported to countries where the supply of wood materials is limited. Wood blocks are already being used in fencing and can also be used for various other applications, such as wood floor tiling, for example, using forest thinnings from Noto cypress (ate) and cypress (see Figure 7). Figure 7: Wood Tile Made from Forest Thinnings 1.3 Commercialisation of Bio–energy in Satoyama 1.3.1 Power Generation from Woody Biomass Gasification Biomass can serve as a renewable resource for use as a source of heat, electricity, and liquid fuels. Biomass sources include forest, agricultural and livestock residues, short rotation forest plantations, energy crops, the organic component of municipal solid waste, and other organic waste streams. These are used as feedstock to produce energy carriers in the According to the IPCC (2007) combustion for heat and steam generation remains the primary biomass energy applications, but advancing technologies include second–generation biofuels, biomass integrated gasification combined cycle co–firing (with coal or gas), and pyrolysis. Many of these are close to commercialisation but are still costly. Biochemical conversion using enzymes to convert ligno–cellulose to sugars that, in turn can be converted to bioethanol, biodiesel, di–methyl ester, hydrogen, and chemical intermediates in biorefineries are not yet commercial, but hold great promise. Prior to conversion, biomass feedstock tend to have lower energy density per volume or mass compared with equivalent fossil fuels. Collection, transport, storage, and handling are therefore typically more costly per unit of energy (IPCC, 2007). These costs can be minimised if the biomass can be sourced from a location where it is already concentrated. One solution currently being explored in Japan relevant for satoyama conservation is power generation through the gasification of woody biomass. The Independent Administration Institution of New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) is conducting a joint research program, “Verification Tests and Results Survey for Biomass and Other Untapped Energy” with private businesses and local public organisations to promote the use of energies such as biomass. 26 In this project, data is collected and analysed in various tests being performed in forty–six locations throughout the country (NEDO, 2006). Meidensha Corporation’s so–called “Verification Tests of a Woody Biomass Gasification Power Generation System Using a Rotary Engine” project located in Anamizu–cho, Ishikawa Prefecture, is one such project. The verification test plant will be operated for five years from April 2006 to 2010. According to the “Verification Tests and Results Survey for Biomass and Other Untapped Energy” (NEDO, 2006), this system reduces the moisture content in 200 kilograms of wood chips from 60 per cent to 20 per cent per hour with a drying machine, and then through a process of carbonisation of those wood chips (thermal decomposition), generates gas which is used as the fuel for the rotary engine in a co–generation system setup. The amount of power generated is 36 kilowatt hours and the energy reduction effect from both electric and heat generation is equivalent to 31.8 kiloliters of crude oil per year. Electricity and heat generated from power generation is used inside and outside the facility, and the charcoal and wood vinegar generated in the carbonising furnace are used as a soil improvement additive and as a pest prevention agent. There are several key advantages of to this system: • Producing high calorie gas with a small amount of space, through the use of a vertical furnace and rapid heating system; 11
• Realising stable power generation through the use of a rotary engine; and • Utilising the wood tar generated with the wood gas, as a fuel for the furnace, removing post processing requirements. The initial cost of this project is approximately 200 million yen and the running costs are scheduled to be calculated from the verification test results (NEDO, 2006). As for the wood chips used for fuel, a large amount of bark and material waste from the processing of wood products is being provided free of charge by the neighboring Noto Forestry Association. However, full data and other detailed results from this verification test have not yet been disclosed to the public. Of the energy verification test projects being performed in forty–six locations throughout the country, there are ten tests using woody biomass for cogeneration of heat and electricity. This is the first location that is using a rotary engine system, and a high level of efficiency and stability are anticipated. However, a comparison with other systems that use gas engines and micro gas turbines is difficult at present as there are differences in size, fuel quality, and location conditions, and uniform data is not available. 1.3.2 Biomass Energy Supply Of the various types of biomass, it is estimated that the total amount of primary woody biomass that is generated every year in Japan amounts to 37,000,000 cubic meters (Forestry Agency edition, 2004). This figure can be broken down into biomass left in forests as forest thinnings, branches and leaves, and damaged trees amounting to 10,000,000 cubic meters; log ends and sawdust generated at production plants amounting to 15,000,000 cubic meters; and waste material produced from home construction and demolition amounting to 12,000,000 cubic meters. Considering that yearly domestic supply of biomass power generation in Japan amounts to 16,560,000 cubic meters (Forestry Agency edition, 2006a), there is still room for growth, with existing forest residues alone, and conceivably a further range of supply if forest thinning and management are enhanced. In 2004, biomass accounted for approximately 1.4 per cent of electricity generation in Japan—the total renewable power generation was 11 per cent. Coal–fired power plants generated 29 per cent followed by natural gas (24 per cent), nuclear (23 per cent), and oil (13 per cent), and renewable (11 per cent) (see Figure8). Nine per cent of the renewables capacity was hydro. Oil comprised about half of Japan’s total primary energy supply in 2004, followed by coal 20 per cent, gas 14 per cent, nuclear 12 per cent and renewables and wastes, around 4 per cent. Japan is entirely dependent on oil imports, relying on the Middle East for about 90 per cent of its crude oil imports in 2005. In 2001, woody biomass accounted for about 1 per cent of total primary energy supply in Japan, relative to 16 per cent in Sweden which has a comparable forest cover and is an advanced economy like Japan (IEA, 2004b) 1.3.3 Demand for Wood Biomass Fuel In recent years, various initiatives have been started with respect to the use of woody biomass. For example, according to a survey implemented by the Forestry Agency in 2003, the number of boilers used for wood resources by the forest industry was 324 units or approximately double the number in 1999. In addition, the number of biomass power generation units installed and pellet production facilities 27 have both increased by approximately threefold, and initiatives such as installing pellet boilers and wood material chip boilers at schools, and burning of wood material chips together with coal as a fuel for power generation, are being undertaken (Forestry Agency edition, 2005). 1.4 Enhancing Carbon Sinks in Satoyama 1.4.1 Financing Management Projects through Carbon Markets Carbon emissions trading is one of the primary instruments developed worldwide to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigate global climate change. 28 Emissions cap and trade systems create a market for pollution rights where none previously existed. 29 Governments set an aggregate level of pollution for a given number of regulated units and then allocates permits or allowances to participating firms (or potentially individuals) and participants must reduce emissions according to allowances (allocated on the basis of production output, historical emissions or auctioning) or buy allowances from other firms if they choose not to reduce emissions. The primary rationale for such schemes is to exploit differences in marginal costs of emissions abatement among regulated units. In theory, those firms with the lowest abatement costs will undertake most of the abatement in the short term, at lower costs overall, while all firms over the long–run will have incentives to invest in new technologies and marketing strategies. The United States Sulfur Emissions Trading programme during the 1990s is often cited as a successful emissions trading initiative. 30 Since the 1990s a number of OECD countries including Japan have experimented with carbon emissions cap and trade systems. The most advanced regime is the European Union’s Emissions Trading System, which started in 2005. Along with cap and trade systems there are also “baseline and credit systems”, which can involve particular investment projects to earn emissions credits by undertaking some abatement activity in a specified time period, which, once certified can count as a credit under a concomitant cap and 12
Page 1 and 2: Niche Markets for Economic Revitali
Page 3 and 4: IICRC Report Niche Markets for Econ
Page 5 and 6: CONCLUSION 25 ENDNOTES 26 REFERENCE
Page 7 and 8: Foreword Satoyama has always provid
Page 9 and 10: The first refers to the current and
Page 11 and 12: a) Working Definition Working Defin
Page 13 and 14: 1 EMERGING NICHE MARKETS FOR SATOYA
Page 15: 1.2 Commercialisation of Wood Block
Page 19 and 20: In Japan, the priorities have been
Page 21 and 22: 2.3 Challenges Relating to Carbon M
Page 23 and 24: nature, satoyama should be accorded
Page 25 and 26: the public (Forestry Agency edition
Page 27 and 28: Figure 11: Price by Year Comparison
Page 29 and 30: such technological innovation in th
Page 31 and 32: ENDNOTES 1. In recent years, the im
Page 33 and 34: emovals of forests are under develo
Page 35 and 36: Nature Conservation Bureau, Ministr

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