As part of efforts to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, the Japanese government is considering securing "energy forests" for the specific purpose of growing sources for woody biomass power generation, officials have said.
Greater dependence on woody biomass is believed to help mitigate climate change as the growing of forests absorbs carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and the use of renewable wood raw materials, as a replacement for fossil fuel products, reduces the volume of new CO2 that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere.
At present, Japan uses biomass fuel derived from the thinning of forests and from branches removed in preparing lumber for building materials. Exclusively using a forest to grow woody biomass fuel is expected to cut labor and other costs by one-third as the work of thinning forests will become unnecessary, the officials said.