Biodiesel is a clean-burning fuel produced from grease, vegetable oils, or animal fats. Biodiesel is produced by transesterification
of oils with short-chain alcohols or by the esterification of fatty acids. The transesterification reaction consists of transforming
triglycerides into fatty acid alkyl esters, in the presence of an alcohol, such as methanol or ethanol, and a catalyst, such
as an alkali or acid, with glycerol as a byproduct. Because of diminishing petroleum reserves and the deleterious environmental
consequences of exhaust gases from petroleum diesel, biodiesel has attracted attention during the past few years as a renewable
and environmentally friendly fuel. Since biodiesel is made entirely from vegetable oil or animal fats, it is renewable and
biodegradable. The majority of biodiesel today is produced by alkali-catalyzed transesterification with methanol, which results
in a relatively short reaction time. However, the vegetable oil and alcohol must be substantially anhydrous and have a low
free fatty acid content, because the presence of water or free fatty acid or both promotes soap formation. In this article,
we examine different biodiesel sources (edible and nonedible), virgin oil versus waste oil, algae-based biodiesel that is
gaining increasing importance, role of different catalysts including enzyme catalysts, and the current state-of-the-art in
biodiesel production.
Keywords Biodiesel - Edible and nonedible - Algae-based - Waste oil - Enzymes - Catalysis - Lipase - Photosynthesis
JIMB 2008: BioEnergy—special issue.