The Carbon Trust is an organization established by the government of the United Kingdom, in response to climate change. It seeks the attainment of a “low carbon economy” by helping companies reduce their carbon emissions and to contribute to the development of “commercial low carbon technologies”. The Carbon Trust recently announced the “Pyrolysis Challenge”, which calls for “Expressions of Interest from potential partners within the scientific community to collaborate in the development of a world-class commercially viable pyrolysis oil upgrading process”. The production of “pyrolysis oil” from the air-free burning (pyrolysis) of “sustainably-sourced biomass” has been identified as a low carbon technology which can produce potentially low-cost biofuels with lesser greenhouse gas emissions. The trust has committed about 5 million pounds (British currency) for “commercially focused research projects” on pyrolysis within a time frame of 3 to 5 years. Among the expected outcomes from research are: “proof of scientific/engineering principle, a novel, low-cost, low GHG intensity pyrolysis technology from biomass, complete characterization of the upgraded oil, an assessment of commercial/environmental value of by-products, and development of a lab-scale or small industrial demonstration unit”. A Pyrolysis Challenge workshop is scheduled on 11 March 2008. Details can be obtained from the Carbon Trust website (URL above)..