Wood Biomass
Fueling life by burning wood
―This kind of heat is the most pleasant,
the closest and you could certainly say it is the most natural kind. ―
Even after felled plants are refused life, in order for Doukyu* architecture to be seen, material life is left behind as the trees continue to live on for thousands of years.
As well as its equal strength and flexibility as fuel, just like the trees which continue to remember the passing of time by the rings that are marked onto them and like the sun that carefully emits its infrared beams, heat is given off.
The heat produced by burning the wood fuels things such as heating, cooking and bathing、all in the context of producing the opposite effect to fossil fuels.
Things you can experience life with wood biomass in Miyama Satoyama-sha
※Click the images to see description for each tool/facility.
 Wood-burning Stove |
 Cooking Stove |
 Rocket Stove |
 Wood Boiler |
 Stone Oven |
 Furnace |
 “Goemonburo”** bath |
 Wood-burning Sauna |
If we are able to use wood for burning then both nature and the region will become affluent.
Once, there were people who would always be taking care of the mountains by gathering sustainable firewood and coal, but now it is rare to see such an occurrence in a Satoyama area.
The Satoyama area where vegetation is disturbed, devastated and left behind without being cared for. Also in the Post-war period, due to a decline in the demand for domestically-produced timber and even after an increase in afforestation, these village mountains were largely abandoned and this called into question the man-made woodland areas filled with Cedar trees and Cypress trees. All this requires both time and labour, therefore people are saying things like “Even though it is there, we won`t use it”. It is watching such a wasteful situation in silence that appears to be the most wasteful aspect of them all.
Whilst progress on this front with regard to the national policy and forest industry is the most necessary, a deeper knowledge of the ways in which naturally-occurring mountain resources in Japan can be incorporated into everyday life, needs to be established. Satoyama-sha, through its support of using wood as fuel, connects the regeneration of Satoyama areas with timber-products industries. Besides the firewood and coal, we are also considering applications to the general “Woody Biomass” residence for producing wood chips and wood pellets (timber from forest thinning, primarily found in man-made forests) as well as Satoyama-sha`s main building. We are planning to start making woodlands from Spring. We will keep you posted with information about upcoming practical events and workshops.
