Revitalizing biomass utilization for renewable energy and sustainable rural development in Japan

Akinyi Omondi, Dilip Khatiwada, Indrek Melts, Naoya Wada, Geetha Mohan · 2026 · Discover Sustainability

Summary. Japan has abundant forest resources but underutilizes biomass for renewable energy due to geographical constraints, outdated inventories, technological gaps, labor shortages, and high costs. The paper argues that sustainable forest management, carbon accounting, pellet production, co-firing with coal, and forest regeneration can make biomass viable for energy security and climate mitigation. Residual heat from biomass plants supports rural development and circular bioeconomy. Success requires targeted investment, policy reform, and cross-sector collaboration.

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@article{omondi-2026-revitalizing-biomass-utilization-renewable-energy,
  title   = {Revitalizing biomass utilization for renewable energy and sustainable rural development in Japan},
  author  = {Akinyi Omondi and Dilip Khatiwada and Indrek Melts and Naoya Wada and Geetha Mohan},
  journal = {Discover Sustainability},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.1007/s43621-025-02548-0},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-02548-0}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Revitalizing biomass utilization for renewable energy and sustainable rural development in Japan
AU  - Akinyi Omondi
AU  - Dilip Khatiwada
AU  - Indrek Melts
AU  - Naoya Wada
AU  - Geetha Mohan
JO  - Discover Sustainability
PY  - 2026
DO  - 10.1007/s43621-025-02548-0
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-02548-0
ER  - 

Details

DOI

10.1007/s43621-025-02548-0

Countries

Japan

Regions

Asia

Categories

energy, climate-and-environment, policy, general-innovation

Added

2026-10-01