I suggest you research wood gasification. Using readily available existing technology, you can run a diesel engine from wood gas. You can in fact buy a gassifier matched in output to the size of your existing diesel. Your diesel engine may need slight modification, but much simpler than the process you have described so far.
As an aside, the vast majority of electricity created world wide is generated by steam turbines, however, they must be run by licensed engineers. A wood gasification plant can be run by mechanics rather than engineers. Further, a gasification plant requires much less capital.