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Energy from woody biomass is expected to revitalise industry in Japan and induce job creation in the region. Woody biomass power plants have been rapidly constructed all over the country after the Feed-in Tariff scheme began. However, there are increasing cases of the destruction of natural ecosystems and landscapes to fulfil the growing demand for woody biomass. This study aims to describe the ideal energy utilisation of woody biomass from the viewpoint of preserving natural ecosystems. First, a conceptual model for the positive and negative impact of woody biomass energy utilisation on the natural ecosystem was organised. Next, an online survey to collect information and data on woody biomass power plants and heat utilisation facilities in Japan was conducted. In addition, the positive and negative impacts of using woody biomass on economic, environmental, and social systems as well as ecosystems were discussed. An online survey showed that the annual fuel usage of the woody biomass and number of employees increase with the scale of the power plant. Although annual expenses also increase, this might be a positive impact, because it can contribute to the economy and employment of the region based on the increase in the production value. In contrast, a negative impact is that some woody biomass power plants import biomass fuel. Importing the biomass fuel is reasonable from the viewpoint of fuel supply cost reduction and stable supply. However, there might be negative impact on the local natural ecosystem when the woody biomass is not appropriately utilised.

International audience; The present article analyses the process of the creation of a second Centre Pompidououtside Paris, based on the hypothesis that the success of the project depends on its socialembeddedness. It is argued that a strong indicator of this embeddedness is the emergence of anew strategic action field—crystallizing the meeting and linking of different actors with divergentinterests, but shared understandings about the common stakes. The process starts from acoincidence of cultural, political and economic motives that have their origins in related fields.These different interests are promoted by a few key protagonists who negotiate a preliminary, butstill fragile social order, mixing idealistic ideas and values with political and economic issues.The analysis reveals that social institutions of French culture exert a strong influence, whileinternal governance units in Paris retain significant powers of control. Although new networkconnections seem to form smoothly around the Centre Pompidou-Metz globally in the region, inboth the cultural and the economic domain they have developed quite unevenly.