This study investigates characterization and thermal decomposition of palm kernel shell (PKS) biomass. PKS is heated from 25 °C to 1000°C using TG/DTG analysis using air atmosphere with a flow rate of 100 ml.min-1 at four different heating rates 10, 20,30, 40°Cmin-1. The physiochemical properties such as proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, heating values, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) were determined. The results of the ultimate analysis show a higher amount of carbon and hydrogen contents which results in a higher heating value of palm kernel shell (PKS). The higher heating value determined by bomb calorimetric method was 17 MJ/kg on dry ash free basis. The FESEM analysis shows that PKS has a porous structure which facilitates the volatile matter release necessary for bio-energy production. It can be concluded from this study that; palm kernel shell has good potential to be converted into biofuels or used as fuel for energy. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.