Valorizing Seed Oils for Sustainable Biodiesel Production via Transesterification Process

Biodiesel is a blend of mono-alkyl esters utilized as an alternative to traditional diesel fuel. It is produced by transesterifying vegetable oils or animal fats with light alcohol. This study valorizes two Euphorbiaceae plants, Jatropha curcas L. and Ricinus communis L., which can thrive in the most arid lands and withstand harsh weather conditions. Their mature seeds can produce a significant amount of vegetable oils through a simple heating process in methanol, resulting in biodiesel with a shallow sulfur content. Selecting these two plants as energy crops is justified by their readily available seeds containing non-edible high-energy-value oils with properties comparable to diesel. The encouraging findings show that the resulting biodiesels closely resemble petrodiesel in fuel characteristics, making them suitable substitutes for fossil diesel, meeting ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 standards. KEYWORDS Alternative fuels, euphorbiaceae, green revolution, renewable biofuels, sustainability, vegetable oil