TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - CHEMICAL ENGINEERING - Preferred Pellet: The pellet does not have a fractured surface. The pellet has a smooth surface comprising a coating derived from lignin, cellulose, or a combination. The biomass comprises one or more of ligno-cellulosic material, recycling waste, and dewatered municipal solid waste, where the ligno-cellulosic material is derived from a plant. The biomass is derived from a plant and/or algae. The pellet further comprises at least one additive, where the additive is selected from a hydrocarbon, plastic, lignin, distillers grain, and starch. The heated biomass comprises torrefied biomass. The pellet includes rounded surfaces in three dimensions, where the pellet is spherical, spheroidal, ellipsoidal, or oblate. Preferred Method: Producing the substantially spherical biomass pellet comprises: compressing the biomass between two or more mold faces, each face comprising a concave portion, the mold faces together forming a cavity that substantially encompasses the biomass; where movement of at least one the mold face toward at least one other the mold face compresses biomass material into the cavity to produce the substantially spherical biomass pellet; comprises compressing and re-orienting the biomass in the cavity by moving a first mold face toward a second mold face, where the first and second mold faces are substantially opposed and at least one of the first mold face and the second mold face is not coaxial with a central axis of the mold cavity; heating and compressing the biomass in the mold at a first pressure, and then further compressing the biomass at a second pressure, where the second pressure is greater than the first pressure; heating and compressing the biomass in the mold, where compressing is carried out with increasing pressure until a maximum pressure is reached; and applying the second pressure while the biomass is at or above a threshold temperature Tthreshold. The method comprises heating the biomass prior to placing it in the mold, and placing the heated biomass in the mold while it is at or above a threshold temperature Tthreshold; heating the biomass prior to placing it in the mold, and placing the biomass in the mold after the heating; and heating the biomass prior to placing it in the mold, placing the biomass in the mold after the heating, and further heating the biomass in the mold. Heating the biomass comprises torrefying the biomass. The pellet includes rounded surfaces in three dimensions. The pellet is spherical, spheroidal, ellipsoidal, or oblate. Producing torrefied biomass further comprises compressing the biomass prior to and during heating, where compressing, separating, and heating are carried out in a mold that substantially encompasses the biomass. Preferred Assembly: In the mold assembly, all mold faces are moveable, the mold faces together forming a cavity; where movement of the mold faces compresses biomass into the cavity to produce the substantially spherical biomass pellet. The mold assembly comprises: a first mold face movable toward a second mold face, where the first and second mold faces are substantially opposed and at least one of the first mold face and the second mold face is not coaxial with a central axis of the mold cavity. The cavity includes rounded surfaces in three dimensions. The cavity is spherical, spheroidal, ellipsoidal, or oblate. EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.