Hello,
Pyrolysis of biomass is perfectly feasible in a microwave system and (me and my colleagues believe) more energy efficient. Similarly, the use of a domestic oven is completely possible, in fact one of the machines I use is based, albeit with improved temperature and power control, from a domestic 1000 W domestic system.
Microwaves are energy intensive per unit time but as they can enable extremely high heating rates and therefore pyrolysis can be carried out at lower temperatures, with more control and using less energy.
I apologies for the blatant promotion of my work but... please see http://www.york.ac.u.../microwave.html for a basic discussion and information about work in this area.
There are other research groups in the USA and Spain amongst others utilising microwaves to induce pyrolysis.
Happy to discuss further with anyone interested!
University of York Pyne Guide.pdf
