Forest and agricultural biomass are important sources of renewable and sustainable fuel for energy production. Their increasing consumption is mainly related to the increase in global energy demand and fossil fuel prices but also to the limited availability of petroleum and the lower environmental impact of these biomass compared with other non-renewable fuels. In particular, the pellet sector has seen important developments in terms of both production and the number of installed transformation plants. In addition, pellet production from non-woody biomass is increasing in importance. One of the fundamental aspects for the correct and sustainable use of a biofuel is evaluation of its quality. This is even more important when dealing with pellet production, considering the broad spectrum of possible raw materials for pelletizing. Considering the significant number of papers dealing with pellet quality evaluation and improvement in the last decade, this review aims to give the reader an overall view of the most current knowledge about this large and interesting topic. We focused on pellets of agricultural and forestry origin and analyzed papers regarding the specific topic of pellet quality evaluation and improvement from the last five years (2016–2020). In particular, the review findings are presented in the following order: the influence of different agro-forest management systems on pellet quality; analysis of pellets from pure feedstocks (no blending or binders); the influence of blending and binders on pellet quality; and the influence of pre and post treatments. Finally, a brief discussion about actual research lacks in this topic and the possibilities for future research are presented. It is important to underline that the present review is focused on the influence of the biomass characteristics on pellet quality. The effects of the process parameters (die temperature, applied pressure, holding time) on pellet features are not considered in this review, because that is another very large topic deserving a dedicated paper.

Among the species currently cultivated for industrial vegetable oil production, castor could be a good candidate for future investments due to the good resistance to pests, tolerance to drought, and suitability for marginal lands cultivation. In addition, the production of castor oil from Ricinus generates a large quantity of press cake, husks, and crop residues that, in a framework of bioeconomy, could be used as by-products for different purposes. Using a case study approach, the work presents results of the environmental impact assessment and economic feasibility of the production of castor oil from two different castor hybrids comparing four by-products management scenarios and two harvesting systems (manual vs. mechanical). Castor hybrid C-856 harvested manually and that involved only the soil incorporation of press cake obtained by the oil extraction resulted as the most sustainable. The hybrid C-1030 resulted as more profitable than C-856 when harvested with the combine harvester. The ratio between gross margin and GWP emissions was applied to calculate the economic performance (gross margin) per unit of environmental burden. Findings showed that Sc1B scenario in case of C-856 cultivar hybrid had a better ratio between economic performance and greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted into the atmosphere (€3.75 per kg CO₂eq).