Potential alternatives to edible oils for biodiesel production - A review of current work

Biodiesel production is a very modern and technological area for researchers due to the relevance that it is winning everyday because of the increase in the petroleum price and the environmental advantages. Currently, biodiesel is mainly prepared from conventionally grown edible oils such as rapeseed, soybean, sunflower and palm thus leading to alleviate food versus fuel issue. About 7% of global vegetable oil supplies were used for biodiesel production in 2007. Extensive use of edible oils may cause other significant problems such as starvation in developing countries. The use of non-edible plant oils when compared with edible oils is very significant in developing countries because of the tremendous demand for edible oils as food, and they are far too expensive to be used as fuel at present. The production of biodiesel from different non-edible oilseed crops has been extensively investigated over the last few years. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.