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The general field is called biomass gasification. It was quite popular in Europe during the WW II gas crisis - you could buy a new Mercedes set up to run on standard wood blocks which were government-inspected for moisture content, until a simple user test was discovered. At the time, the cleanest running rigs required that the engine be torn down for tar removal every 5,000 miles.
The most important factor is uniformity of fuel. Forget about burning available scrap. Blocks of wood 1" X 1" X 2" at 15% moisture content were standard for motor vehicles, and the jiggling helped maintain the proper packing in the gasifier. With tar going through a bed of charcoal at over 600C, good chemistry happens. These days, we also have cyclone tar traps. The biggest problem is that the gasifier only has an operating range that goes from about 15% to 60% of the normal power, so a lot of smoke has to be wasted when stopped. Also, the minimum size is too big for a car-size hybrid.
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