This review presents the summary of new studies on pyrolysis of biomass to produce fuels and chemical feedstocks. A number of biomass species, varying from woody and herbaceous biomass to municipal solid waste, food processing residues and industrial wastes, were subjected to different pyrolysis conditions to obtain liquid, gas and solid products. The results of various biomass pyrolysis investigations connected with the chemical composition and some properties of the pyrolysis products as a result of the applied pyrolysis conditions were combined. The characteristics of the liquid products from pyrolysis were examined, and some methods, such as catalytic upgrading or steam reforming, were considered to improve the physical and chemical properties of the liquids to convert them to economic and environmentally acceptable liquid fuels or chemical feedstocks. Outcomes from the kinetic studies performed by applying thermogravimetric analysis were also presented. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.