Biodiesel Production: A Review

Biodiesel, an alternative diesel fuel, is made from renewable biological sources such as vegetable oils and animal fats. It is biodegradable and nontoxic, has low emission pro®les and so is environmentally bene®cial (Krawczyk, 1996). One hundred years ago, Rudolf Diesel tested vegetable oil as fuel for his engine (Shay, 1993). With the advent of cheap petroleum, appropriate crude oil fractions were re®ned to serve as fuel and diesel fuels and diesel engines evolved together. In the 1930s and 1940s vegetable oils were used as diesel fuels from time to time, but usually only in emergency situations. [via]

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