To study the combustion and energy release characteristics of Zr-based amorphous alloys, the combustion heat of Zr_68.5-xAl_7.5+x(Cu+Ni)₂₄(x=0,2.5,5,7.5) under different oxygen pressures were tested by oxygen bomb calorimetry. The phase composition of combustion products were determined by X-ray diffractometer, and comparative analysis of various energetic materials was conducted. The results show that the combustion heat of Zr-based amorphous alloy is negatively correlated with the Zr∶Al atom ratio. The energy released mainly comes from the oxidation reaction of metal elements, and a very small amount of energy comes from the chemical reaction between metal elements. The combustion heat and reaction efficiency increase with the increase of oxygen pressure, according with the first-order decay index function. Zr-based amorphous alloy has higher chemical potentiality, compared with PTFE/Al and TNT, Its specific energy per unit mass is 10.981 kJ·g^-1，and the specific energy per unit volume is 72.035 kJ·cm^-3.