Comparative valorisation of agricultural and industrial biowastes by combustion and pyrolysis

•Valorisation of agricultural and industrial wastes by combustion and pyrolysis.•Agricultural wastes showed the highest heating values (HHVs).•Combustion of agricultural wastes are promising for energy applications.•Pyrolysis of industrial wastes produces materials for adsorption applications. Combustion and pyrolysis processes were assessed and compared for two types of lignocellulosic biowastes: agricultural (Eucalyptus bark, grape seeds, peach stones, walnut shells, olive waste and peanut shells) and industrial (primary and biological paper mill sludge) biowastes. They were characterized by elemental, proximate and thermal analyses; the pyrolysis behaviour was studied by thermogravimetric analysis and the gases produced were identified using mass spectrometry. Agricultural biowastes showed the highest calorific values, close to the fossil fuel values (20–30MJkg−1) and, in general, emission of gases containing the carbon element (CH4, C2H2, CO and CO2) was higher than that of the tested industrial biowastes, making the agricultural biowastes highly competitive for combustion applications such as gas fuel. Further, the solid product which resulted from the pyrolysis of industrial biowastes is a material with large specific surface area, which is a good characteristic for possible applications as adsorbent in water remediation.