On this planet, the renewable carbon source with the greatest abundance is lignocellulosic biomass. Forest residues, crop residues, energy crops specifically grown for their energy content (like grasses), animal waste, and food waste are all examples of sources of available biomass. Cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin are the primary components that make up these materials, which are the fibrous structural parts of plants. In contrast to the so-called bio-feedstocks of the first generation, such as sugars, starches, and vegetable oils, nature has made it more difficult to deconstruct these parts of the plant into chemical building blocks. This presents a challenge for scientists and engineers who are attempting to make use of this carbon source. The process of converting biomass into a wide variety of products can take place in facilities known as biorefineries. In addition to bio-based chemicals and materials, our target products included advanced hydrocarbon biofuels that are indistinguishable from fossil-based gasoline, diesel, or jet fuels. These biofuels are also referred to as "drop-in" replacements. In order to make renewable bioproducts derived from biomass economically competitive with those manufactured using fossil resources, new technologies need to be developed to convert this renewable source of carbon in a more effective and efficient manner.

The conversion of biomass into an intermediate liquid product that can be refined into drop-in hydrocarbon biofuels, oxygenated fuel additives, and petrochemical replacements is one of the technologies that is currently available. Pyrolysis is the process of heating an organic material without the presence of oxygen. This can be done with biomass. The pyrolysis of biomass is typically carried out at temperatures equal to or greater than 500 degrees Celsius, which supplies sufficient heat to break down the robust bio-polymers described earlier. Because there is no oxygen around, combustion does not take place; rather, the biomass undergoes thermal breakdown, resulting in the production of combustible gases and bio-char. Even though there are some permanent gases (CO­2, CO, H2, light hydrocarbons), the majority of these combustible gases can be condensed into a combustible liquid that is referred to as biomass pyrolysis machine oil (bio-oil). Some of these permanent gases can even be burned to provide the heat that is necessary for the process. 

As a result, the biomass pyrolysis machine of biomass results in the production of three different products: one liquid, known as bio-oil, one solid, known as bio-char, and one gas known as syngas. The proportion of these products is determined by a number of factors, one of which is the composition of the feedstock, as well as the parameters of the process. However, the yield of bio-oil is maximized under fast  conditions when the  temperature is around 500 degrees Celsius and the heating rate is high (1 000 degrees Celsius per second). This is the case when all other factors are held constant. Under these circumstances, it is possible to obtain bio-oil yields ranging from 60–70 wt% from a typical biomass feedstock, along with bio-char yields ranging from 15–25% wt%. The remaining 10–15 weight percent is composed of syngas. Slow  refers to the processes that make use of slower heating rates, and bio-char is typically the primary product that results from using such processes. Because the combustion of the syngas and a certain amount of bio-oil or bio-char can provide all of the necessary energy to drive the reaction, the  process has the potential to be self-sustaining.

A dense and complex mixture of oxygenated organic compounds is what we refer to as bio-oil

1.  It has a fuel value that is generally between 50 and 70 percent that of fuels based on petroleum, and it can be upgraded to become renewable transportation fuels as well as used as boiler fuel

2.  Because the composition of the bio-oil renders it thermally unstable and, as a result, makes it difficult to distill or further refine, additional research into the production of bio-oil of a higher quality is required

3.  However, its density is greater than 1 kg L-1, which is significantly higher than that of biomass feedstocks

4.  As a result, transporting it will be more cost effective than transporting biomass

5.  As a result, it is conceivable to imagine a model of distributed processing in which a large number of small-scale pyrolyzers (farm scale) convert biomass to bio-oil, which is then transported to a centralized location for the purpose of being refined

6.  Our team developed and built a mobile one-ton per day pyrolysis demonstration unit using a reactor design known as the combustion reduction integrated  system (CRIPS) so that we could test this hypothesis

7.  The CRIPS unit is able to perform fast or catalytic pyrolysis, which results in partially deoxygenated bio-oil

8.  Additionally, the CRIPS unit is able to produce bio-oil locally

In addition, the bio-char that is produced can be utilized on farms as a valuable soil amender that has the capability of storing carbon dioxide. Because it has a high absorption capacity, bio-char enhances the soil's capacity to hold onto water, nutrients, and agricultural chemicals, thereby reducing the risk of both water pollution and soil erosion. The application of bio-char to soil may improve soil quality while also being an efficient way to sequester large amounts of carbon. This could contribute to the reduction of global climate change by reducing the amount of carbon that is released into the atmosphere. The incorporation of bio-char as a soil amendment will mitigate a significant number of the challenges connected with the elimination of crop residues from the land.