Biomass pyrolysis is a thermochemical process that breaks down organic matter in the absence of oxygen, offering a sustainable route for converting biomass into bio-oil, biochar, and syngas. This review provides a comprehensive overview of pyrolysis, focusing on its fundamental principles, modes, and its applications across different industries. It covers major pyrolysis types and explores the reactors used in these processes and how key parameters, such as temperature, heating rate, and residence time, impact the distribution and quality of pyrolysis products. Special attention is given to bio-oil upgrading methods, including catalytic and non-catalytic processes, and how they affect fuel quality. The study also presents techno-economic assessments of various pathways, identifying cost-effective configurations like pyrolysis combined with hydrotreatment and heat integration. Despite encouraging advancements, scaling up bio-oil technologies continues to face significant challenges, primarily due to cost competitiveness and variability in feedstock supply. This review emphasizes the critical need for continued innovation in reactor design, catalyst efficiency, and integrated process optimization, alongside supportive policy frameworks and strategic investments to accelerate commercial deployment. Finally, this review aims to help researchers, engineers, and policymakers work together to advance pyrolysis technology as a practical solution for producing low-carbon fuels and chemicals.

Several frameworks incorporate social and psychological elements of environmentally significant behaviour, and most assume cognitive and deliberate decision-making. Household energy consumption behaviours, however, span a spectrum from reasoned and deliberate to unplanned and automatic. The aim of this paper is to advance knowledge of reasoned and unplanned behaviours in the context of pro-environmental action. Using results of a survey administered to occupants of an urban residential green building, this study explores five household consumption behaviours and tests the hypothesis that unplanned behaviours will be poorly predicted by a reasoned, values-based behavioural framework. Using path analyses, variables in a values-based framework are used to predict surveyed behaviours. Findings indicate that behaviours hypothesized to be unplanned were not well predicted by the values-based framework. The framework successfully predicted what was hypothesized to be a fully reasoned behaviour. Three potential reasons are discussed for the lack of prediction of some behaviours. A deeper understanding of how unplanned, automatic or habitual behaviours intervene in conservation intentions can help policy-makers and building designers better respond to influences of occupant behaviour on building performance.

The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of the drivers of indoor water consumption in urban multistory residential buildings, to more accurately predict residential water demand, and to identify water saving opportunities. Water meters were installed at each end-use fixture in 15 apartments within two economically diverse green high-rise buildings. Infrared motion loggers recorded occupant presence. Interviews provided sociodemographic data and data about water consuming activities. The average apartment water consumption was $184\mathrm{L}/[\mathrm{capita}(\mathrm{cap})·\mathrm{d}]$ in Building #1 and $260\mathrm{L}/(\mathrm{cap}·\mathrm{d})$ in Building #2. A principal component analysis determined that tenant presence in kitchen, kitchen faucet water consumption, cooking frequency, bathroom faucet water consumption, bathtub water consumption, percentage of tenants going to work/school, percentage of children, and percentage of seniors were major contributors to the variability in total per capita water consumption. A water end-use model taking these drivers into account demonstrated that preferences in bathtub and shower consumption exceeded the effects of dish washing and toilet leaks. When considered in relation to overall water consumption in the city, the tenant per capita water consumption in both buildings was similar.