Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a culture that has high fat content in seed, from 45% to 48%, and is thus classified as a highly significant energy crop. It is widespread in the world: from South America, Europe, Africa, all the way to Asia. The fruit of groundnut is a pod that grows below ground and is the only legume of this kind. Groundnut is usually used in human nutrition as a delicacy commonly called peanut in the form of salted fried seeds or processed as a butter. In order to improve its chemical structure and allow for longer use, groundnut is treated by a thermal process of conduction drying – toasting, which is also the most common procedure. During such drying the chemical structure of the seed changes. Unlike the seed, the groundnut shell has been considered solely as waste whose disposal was a problem for a long time. With the advancement of technology and the awakening of ecological consciousness, the energetic attributes of the shell in the form of alternative biofuel have been discovered. It is successfully used as a fuel for heating today. In this thesis, the chemical characteristics of groundnut seed were researched. The content of water, ash, fats and starch was determined. The measured amount of fat after drying ranged from 45% to 46%, so the groundnut grown in the Republic of Croatia is ranked alongdside by the crops grown in the world. In the shell, energy characteristics were researched with the aim to determine the raw material potential as biofuel. The content of water, ash, coke, fixed carbon and volatile matter as also upper heating values was defined. Thermal processing by conduction drying was carried out at temperatures of 150°C, 170°C and 190°C and the corresponding chart was created. After drying, the groundnut shell had a low water content of 2.56% to 1.33%, which is a desirable characteristic indicating its calorific value. The ash content is also low and it ranged from 4.81% to 6.12%. It is also one of the most important parameters in determining biomass quality. Along with higher content of non-flammable substances such as coke (16.8% to 17.57%) and fixed carbon (11.28% to 13.73%) the shell shows all the characteristics of high energy capacity.