Experiments were carried out with a woody waste fraction using a two-stage gasifier consisting of a fluidized bed zone and a tar cracking zone that was filled with activated carbon. In the experiments, the effects of experimental conditions such as the temperature and the equivalence ratio were investigated. In addition, the results of the experiments with virgin activated carbon, without activated carbon, and with spent activated carbon were compared. The producer gases that were obtained in the experiments were analyzed using GCs (FID and TCD) and a GC-MS system. The producer gas obtained with the application of activated carbon at an ER of 0.2 had high H(2) content (16 vol.%, N(2)-free), and its lower heating value was above 10 MJ/Nm(3). In addition, the total amount of the tar captured by the scrubbers and the electrostatic precipitator was reduced sixfold when activated carbon was applied. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.