earticle

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Concerns about the pollution and global warming, as well as the depletion of fossil fuel reservoir necessitate search for renewable energy sources. Mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids, termed as biodiesel, are promising alternative to petroleum-based fuels. They are produced from triacylglycerides contained in plant oils, animal fats, and waste oils through transesterification with alcohols. Currently, biodiesel is commercially produced by chemical processes using hydroxides or alcoholates catalysts. However, they have several problems. First of all, in the chemical process, water and free fatty acids in raw materials and catalyst preparations should be completely removed to prevent the formation of soaps. Furthermore, the alcoholate catalysts are highly flammable and toxic. There have been constant efforts to replace the catalysts with “greener” ones like lipases. Lipases can convert both triglycerides and free fatty acids to alkyl esters even in the presence of water, providing more flexibility in feedstock selection. In addition, using lipase can minimize the handling of hazardous chemicals and simplify the downstream processes. In this presentation, recent progresses in the research project aiming to make the enzymatic biodiesel production more economic and competitive will be summarized. Focus will be placed on the prevention of enzyme inhibition, supercritical processes for oil extraction and enzymatic transesterification, and design of lipases for high stability.