This paper presents the quality and cost of small-scale production of briquettes, made from agricultural and forest biomass in north-eastern Poland. The experiment involved production of eight types of briquettes. The highest net calorific value was determined for briquettes made from pine sawdust (18,144 MJ t(-1)). The value measured for briquettes made from perennial energy plants was over 1500 MJ t(-1) lower, and for those made from straw 2000 MJ t(-1) lower than for sawdust briquettes. The sawdust briquettes left significantly the lowest amount of ash (0.40% of dry mass). The significantly highest content of hydrogen, sulphur and nitrogen was found in briquettes containing the highest portion of rapeseed oilcake. The quality of briquettes varied and only some of them met the requirements of DIN 51731. Briquettes made from pine sawdust were of the highest quality. The briquette production cost ranged from 66.55 (sic) t(-1) 137.87 (sic) t(-1) for rape straw briquettes and for those made from a mixture of rape straw and rapeseed oilcake (50:50), respectively. In general, briquette production was profitable, except for the briquettes made from a straw and rapeseed oilcake mixture. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.