10. Biodiesel Production from Non-comestible Oils

Increase in the price of petroleum, finite nature of fossil fuels, increasing concerns regarding environmental impact, especially related to greenhouse gas emissions, and health and safety considerations are driving the search for new energy sources. Consequently, recent years have seen the development of several sectors of renewable energy production. Among these energies, biofuels are a promising way to reduce the environmental degradation by increasing pollutants. Research on biofuel production is considerably focused on producing biodiesel from comestible oils. This production has been debated recently because of the use of fertile lands needed to produce biofuels and increased prices of staple foods making them more scarce which is dangerous to the food security of poor people around the world. Therefore, it is clever to produce biodiesel from vegetable species not intended for food. The purpose of this chapter is to consider the employment of non-comestible oils into biodiesel production, to present the various processes of oil extraction and oil conversion with emphasis on the transesterification, and, finally, to highlight several uses of biodiesel in the world.