Innovative Approaches in Biodiesel Production from Waste Cooking Oils and Waste Animal Fats

In the past few years, biodiesel has garnered considerable interest from researchers, government bodies, and industries as a sustainable, eco-friendly, and safe alternative fuel. Nonetheless, various feedstocks have been deemed impractical or unviable due to their exorbitant costs, primarily because they are utilized as food sources. Waste cooking oils (WCOs) and waste animal fats (WAFs) stand out as the most viable options for biodiesel feedstocks, despite their challenges, since treating such waste can be quite expensive due to stringent environmental regulations. A portion of these expenses might be mitigated through the production of bioenergy like biodiesel. This review article offers an extensive analysis of the pre-treatment processes and the application of WCOs and WAFs in biodiesel production. The predominant method for generating biodiesel is transesterification. Additionally, this paper emphasizes the purification and examination of the biodiesel produced, along with the latest innovations in biodiesel production from WCOs and WAFs. This review concludes that both WCOs and WAFs hold great potential as feedstocks for the production of biodiesel.