The way of using woody biomass varies in buming , producing ethanol , gasification and so on . Some researches have been made for cultivating and producing short rotation trees as an energy source . Woody biomass such as willow or hybrid poplar is grown in European and North American countries . In that area , sugarcane harvester is used fbr harvesting woody biomass production , While in the south − west islands of Japan , sugarcane is grown as one of the main crops and many harvesters are used

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... , Also, considerable area is expected fbr woody biomass production . There should be big potential to grow short rotation trees fbr energy source in that area under the subtropical climate . In this study , the production possibility of woody biomass in south −west islands of Japan is discussed . For testing the adjustability with the sugarcane production, the cutting resistances of some selected species were measured using the cutting knife ofthe sugarcane harvester .