TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - BIOLOGY - Preferred Components: The biomass to be destructively distilled is a solid or liquid; and is preprocessed. The biomass comprises sisal, sugar cane including waste sugar cane, wood, maize or maize stems, coffee husks, cashew nuts, coconuts, thick-stemmed plant material, or material derived from any such sources. Preferred Method: The method further involves: heating a fluid using the sun's rays; destructively distilling the biomass using the heat from the heated fluid; and collecting the resulting products. The step of heating the fluid using the sun's rays further involves concentrating the sun's rays using a solar concentrator in order to heat the fluid. All of the energy required to operate the method is supplied by solar power or greater than or equal to 95% of the energy required to operate the process is supplied by solar power, and the remaining energy requirements are met by conventional energy sources; or 50-90% of the energy required to operate the method is supplied by solar power, and the remaining energy requirements are met by conventional energy sources. The solar concentrator heats fluid contained in a suitable housing, the heated fluid transfers heat to a retort comprising the biomass to be destructively distilled; and heat is transferred from the hot fluid to the retort by suitable heat exchangers. The water is heated to greater than or equal to 500-600 degrees C. The solar energy is converted to another form of energy, before the energy is used to extract products from the biomass. The biomass is mixed with water, a solvent or a volatile liquid prior to destructive distillation. Preferred Apparatus: The apparatus further comprises: unit for collecting the sun's rays; unit for containing a fluid to be heated using the sun's rays; a retort for destructively distilling biomass; and unit for transferring heat from the heated fluid to the retort to enable heating of the biomass. The unit for collecting the sun's rays comprises a solar concentrator for focusing the sun's rays. The solar concentrator comprises at least one parabolic solar mirror. The solar parabolic mirrors are motorized. The unit for transferring heat from the heated fluid to the retort to enable heating of the biomass comprises suitable heat exchangers. The unit for containing a fluid to be heated using the sun's rays further comprises a hot liquid, steam or vapor generator; a reservoir for storing the hot liquid, steam or vapor; and a super-heater. The steam or vapor generator, the reservoir for storing hot liquid, steam or vapor or the super-heater are made from a molybdenum steel tube. The unit for collecting the distilled products comprises a series of gas stills as used in conventional distillation processes.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Fluid: The fluid comprises water, molten metallic sodium or lithium.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Fluid: The fluid comprises synthetic organic fluids.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Fluid: The fluid comprises silicone fluids. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.