Biodiesel From Conventional Feedstocks

At present, traditional fossil fuels are used predominantly in China, presenting the country with challenges that include sustainable energy supply, energy efficiency improvement, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2007, China issued The Strategic Plan of the Mid-and-Long Term Development of Renewable Energy, which aims to increase the share of clean energy in the country’s energy consumption to 15% by 2020 from only 7.5% in 2005. Biodiesel, an important renewable fuel with significant advantages over fossil diesel, has attracted great attention in the USA and European countries. However, biodiesel is still in its infancy in China, although its future is promising. This chapter reviews biodiesel production from conventional feedstocks in the country, including feedstock supply and state of the art technologies for the transesterification reaction through which biodiesel is made, particularly the enzymatic catalytic process developed by Chinese scientists. Finally, the constraints and perspectives for China’s biodiesel development are highlighted.