Abstract
The current situation of forests and forestry as well as woody biomass utilization in Japan was described, and the future outlook for the use of forest biomass in Japan was presented. Many planted forests are now becoming mature, so the operational efficiency in forestry should be improved not only by the development of the forest infrastructure but also by the full mechanization of the logging system. The Kyoto Protocol adopted in 1997 promoted the energy utilization of waste woody biomass such as mill residues and wood-based waste materials, and the launch of the Feed-in Tariff scheme for renewable energy (FIT) in 2012 promoted the energy utilization of once-unutilized thinnings. In order to further expand the production of forest biomass and its utilization for energy, logging residues, small-sized trees, and short rotation woody coppices (SRWC) are promising. Thus, low-cost harvesting technologies should be developed as soon as possible, with reference to machines and systems operating in foreign countries where the utilization of such forest biomass is making steady progress.
Highlights
The discipline of “Forest Utilization” in Japan was introduced with reference to the German “Forstbenutzung” at the end of the nineteenth century
The Forstbenutzung covers the processes of felling, processing, yarding/skidding, and transporting trees and wood anatomy, wood physics, wood processing, and wood craft; it can be said that the Forstbenutzung pursues the rational utilization of forests and trees
In the case of Japan, the research subjects of wood anatomy, wood physics, wood processing, and wood craft went independent as the Wood Science after World War II; the Forest Utilization has progressed to cover the fields of civil engineering, machine engineering, operational efficiency, and ergonomics in forestry
Summary
The discipline of “Forest Utilization” in Japan was introduced with reference to the German “Forstbenutzung” at the end of the nineteenth century. In the case of Japan, the research subjects of wood anatomy, wood physics, wood processing, and wood craft went independent as the Wood Science after World War II; the Forest Utilization has progressed to cover the fields of civil engineering, machine engineering, operational efficiency, and ergonomics in forestry. From this point of view, the current Japanese Forest Utilization is similar to the Forest Engineering developed in North America and the Forest Operations developed in Europe. With the aim of showing the R&D of forest biomass production and its utilization within the framework of the Japanese Forest Utilization, the current situation of forests and forestry as well as woody biomass utilization in Japan is described, and the future outlook for the use of forest biomass in Japan is presented
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