As the fossil fuels are depleting day by day, there is a need to find out an alternative fuel to fulfill the energy demand of the world. Biodiesel is one of the best available resources that have come to the forefront recently. In this paper, a detailed review has been conducted to highlight different related aspects to biodiesel industry. These aspects include, biodiesel feedstocks, extraction and production methods, properties and qualities of biodiesel, problems and potential solutions of using vegetable oil, advantages and disadvantages of biodiesel, the economical viability and finally the future of biodiesel. The literature reviewed was selective and critical. Highly rated journals in scientific indexes were the preferred choice, although other non-indexed publications, such as Scientific Research and Essays or some internal reports from highly reputed organizations such as International Energy Agency (IEA), Energy Information Administration (EIA) and British Petroleum (BP) have also been cited. Based on the overview presented, it is clear that the search for beneficial biodiesel sources should focus on feedstocks that do not compete with food crops, do not lead to land-clearing and provide greenhouse-gas reductions. These feedstocks include non-edible oils such as Jatropha curcas and Calophyllum inophyllum , and more recently microalgae and genetically engineered plants such as poplar and switchgrass have emerged to be very promising feedstocks for biodiesel production. It has been found that feedstock alone represents more than 75% of the overall biodiesel production cost. Therefore, selecting the best feedstock is vital to ensure low production cost. It has also been found that the continuity in transesterification process is another choice to minimize the production cost. Biodiesel is currently not economically feasible, and more research and technological development are needed. Thus supporting policies are important to promote biodiesel research and make their prices competitive with other conventional sources of energy. Currently, biodiesel can be more effective if used as a complement to other energy sources.

A comprehensive review on biodiesel as an alternative energy resource and its characteristics

Biodiesel production from high FFA rubber seed oil

Biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester) is a nontoxic and biodegradable alternative fuel that is obtained from renewable sources. A major hurdle in the commercialization of biodiesel from virgin oil, in comparison to petroleum-based diesel fuel, is its cost of manufacturing, primarily the raw material cost. Used cooking oil is one of the economical sources for biodiesel production. However, the products formed during frying, such as free fatty acid and some polymerized triglycerides, can affect the transesterification reaction and the biodiesel properties. Apart from this phenomenon, the biodiesel obtained from waste cooking oil gives better engine performance and less emissions when tested on commercial diesel engines. The present paper attempts to review methods for the transesterification of waste cooking oil and the performance of biodiesel obtained from waste cooking oil in a commercial diesel engine. The paper also examines the basic chemistry involved during frying and the effects of the products formed in the frying process on biodiesel quality.

Waste cooking oil – an economical source for biodiesel: a review

State-of-the-art on use of insects as animal feed.

Biodiesel production from waste cooking oils

Alcohols have an interesting potential as blending components for diesel fuels because of their capacity to reduce soot formation. Because they have increasing routes for their production from renewable sources, they could contribute toward increasing the renewable fraction of these fuels and, therefore, toward reducing the impact of diesel transportation on the global warming effect. To increase the knowledge about the implications of the use of short- and long-chain alcohols/diesel fuel blends in diesel engines, the stability, lubricity, viscosity, and cold filter plugging point (CFPP) have been tested. Blends of methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, and pentanol with diesel fuel have been analyzed at 1, 2.5, 7.7, 17, 50, 75, and 90% in volume [including 95% (v/v) in the case of CFPP]. Results have shown that short-chain alcohols depict poor blending stability and low viscosity (mainly for concentrations of ethanol and propanol in diesel fuel blends beyond 22 and 45%, respectively). A synergistic effect...

Stability, Lubricity, Viscosity, and Cold-Flow Properties of Alcohol−Diesel Blends

Environmental concerns are driving industry to develop viable alternative fuels from renewable resources. On the other hand, to reduce food surplus, the Agricultural Policy of the European Union (EU) obliges the European farmers to leave a percentage of the arable land as set-aside, where can be grown, as an exception, vegetables for nonfood purposes, i.e., energetic ones. Currently, fossil fuels are used in diesel engines and are essential in industrialized places. In addition, petroleum-based diesel increases environmental pollution. To solve these problems, transesterified vegetable oil that has been grown in set-aside lands can be considered to be a renewable energy resource. In this sense, this work describes the optimization of the parameters involved in the transesterification process of Brassica carinata oil. Gas chromatography was used to determine the fatty acid composition of Brassica carinata oil and its esters. Results revealed that the free fatty acid content is a notorious parameter to dete...

M. Pilar Dorado

Papers

Stability, Lubricity, Viscosity, and Cold-Flow Properties of Alcohol−Diesel Blends

Optimization of alkali-catalyzed transesterification of Brassica carinata oil for biodiesel production

A comparison of performance of higher alcohols/diesel fuel blends in a diesel engine

Physical and chemical properties of ethanol–diesel fuel blends

The effect of biodiesel fatty acid composition on combustion and diesel engine exhaust emissions