Pyrolysis

After contemplating my previous post and the information I discovered I felt like I should investigate other possible fuels. I went to the Poudre Public Library website and completed a search for “biofuel options” and came across an interesting article, “Biofuels: The Past, Present, and a New Vision for the Future” written by Tom Simpson. This article discusses biofuels, particularly biofuel made from grain and biomass like corn or switch grass respectively. He explains how corn is an impractical option because it requires a tremendous amount of nutrients and it is very harsh on the land it is grown on where as, switch grass and other perennial biomass crops can be grown with less inputs in more localized areas. This information I already understood but as I continued to read Simpson began to explain process call pyrolysis, which generates liquid biofuels by anaerobic combustion of biomass resulting in the fuel and char. Char is a fine particulate containing carbon and plant nutrients, which can be used to amend soil. I have researched biofuels quite extensively and have never heard of pyrolysis so, I was naturally curious. could this be the solution? I needed more information.
I went google and searched "pyrolysis" hoping it would deliver a quality site. I found a page on the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service website that explains the process. Essentially biomass is heated in an environment with no oxygen so it cannot combust, but the chemical compounds thermally decompose resulting in combustible gases that are then condensed into fuels. CO­2, CO, H2, light hydrocarbons, and bio char are the other products. Even though this process requires temperatures around 500 degrees it is sustainable by using some of the combustible gasses to continue running the processor.
When I compared these two sources I began to think of questions. What is the best biomass to use for this process? I do not remember either source mentioning if switch grass is better than wood pulp or any of the other large biomass producers we have on this planet. How much land is needed to grow the biomass and how much is needed for a production facility? Can this be done on a commercial level or is it better on a smaller scale? Tom Simpson's article was more pointed at persuading the reader away from corn ethanol while the USDA's site seemed to be more interested in explaining and possibly selling the idea of pyrolysis.
It seems to me like this is a very brilliant process that removes the necessary items from biomass but leaves the unnecessary products in the char which can be reused to improve growth of future biomass or other crops. I am curious how much CO-2 is created, but I realize that any biofuel creates some amount of CO-2. I wonder if this CO-2 can be collected and used to stimulate growth of other biomass producers like algae? Maybe combining these two biofuel producers and their processes can be mutually beneficial. Maybe the char can be used to feed the algae the large quantities of nutrients it requires?

Resources:
Simpson, Tom. "Biofuels: The Past, Present, And A New Vision For The Future." Bioscience 59.11 (2009): 926-927. GreenFILE. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.