I’ve been wanting to set up a pyrolysis unit at my house. About 60-80% of the mass is converted into an oil that I could use to heat the house, most of the rest is left as charcoal that if turned back into the soil greatly increases the fertility of the soil.
A few acres would free me from propane and should make the garden more productive.
It would sequester carbon in the soil permanently, but that is not my purpose.
Theoretically, you could run a diesel engine off the stuff but it contains alot of acids and congeals if not stabilized.
That was one method that Steve Harris was thinking would actually be a valid application of solar energy -
parabolically concentrating solar energy on a pyrolysis reactor to produce a burnable oil.