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Biomass energy getting attention in Japan

TOKYO - Industrial machinery manufacturers such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd are increasingly receiving orders for biomass-fueled furnaces used in power plants.

Biomass is garnering attention as one of the new energy sources - along with solar and wind power - and competition for orders has been intensifying. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries received its first order for a gasification furnace from industrial waste processor Mie-Chuo Kaihatsu Co that extracts combustible gas from wood scraps. The order is worth several billion yen. Construction will begin within the year and is scheduled to be completed by September 2004.

Wood material is placed in the furnace and heated to about 500 degrees Celsius in a low-oxygen environment. The heating process extracts the combustible gas, which can then be used to fuel boilers that generate power. Mie-Chuo Kaihatsu plans to use the generated electricity to mainly power its own facilities.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries received an order from a distribution-related cooperative association based in Gifu prefecture for a power plant fueled by logging byproducts. The order is reportedly valued at about 500 million yen (US$4.2 million), and construction is slated to be completed by August.

(Asia Pulse/Nikkei)

Jun 24, 2003

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