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Abstract The macroscopic co-combustion characteristics of tobacco stalk, low rank coal, and their blends were investigated in a custom-designed macro-TGA. The interaction between tobacco stalk and coal during co-combustion, as well as effect of the proportion of the two, were also studied. The results showed that increasing the proportion of tobacco stalk was more effective in reducing the burnout temperature than the ignition temperature. The ignition temperature of the tobacco stalk (254 °C to 321 °C) varied greatly at different heating rates compared with coal (408 °C to 412 °C). The mixing of tobacco stalk and coal produced an inhibitory interaction before ignition, and gradually transformed into a promotion with the increase in temperature. The promoting interaction was most significant for the blends with tobacco stalk weight percentage of 70%. The results obtained in this study may be used to the understanding of the combustion of tobacco stalk/coal and also provide a basis for further applying tobacco stalks on industrial boilers with high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]