The aim of the work is research of straw pyrolysis in various modes, the determination of process thermal effects and estimation of straw thermal processing possibility in the autothermal mode. Physical experiment and differential thermal analysis were used as research methods. Thermotechnical characteristics of raw materials are determined by ISO 1171:2010, GOST R 55660-2013 and a bomb calorimeter; thermal and physical characteristic are determined by the analyzer of thermal diffusivity Discovery Laser Flash DLF-1200. In result of the work is established that thermal effects occur in the straw after heating to 200 °C. The first shows of exothermic reactions are observed when the reactor is heated to 303 °C – in this case the temperature of the straw reaches 308.8 °C. By differential thermal analysis is established that the temperature range of heat input was set from 235 to 575 °C and value of the thermal effect in this range was set 1475 kJ/kg. For this range, the heat costs for the organization of pyrolysis in the autothermal mode and the total thermal effect of the process are calculated. The calculation results showed that the maximum thermal effect (398.9 kJ/kg) can be obtained at a pyrolysis temperature of 460 °C. For these conditions, the influence of the initial straw moisture content on the autothermality of pyrolysis process was evaluated and it was established that process can be organized due to its own thermal effects when the raw material moisture is less than 30.5%.