An Overview of Enzymatic Production of Biodiesel

Among the most critical issues in production of environmental friendly fuels, biodegradability, low toxicity and renewability are the most important factors. Biodiesel, as a renewable fuel can be produced from various sources including vegetable oils, animal fats, waste products of vegetable oil refinery and used frying oil. Chemically, biodiesel is known as monoalkyl ester of fatty acids. Transesterification is a common way to produce biodiesel. Transestrification method involves chemical (acidic or basic) or enzyme catalyzed reaction to produce fatty acid alkyl esters. Enzymatic biodiesel production involving lipase catalyzed reaction is a well known method for biodiesel production. This paper provides an overview on the enzymatic production of biodiesel. First, a brief description about common methods of producing biodiesel has been given and then, the enzymatic reaction and process is explained in particular.