Application of microwave synthesis in biodiesel production

Abstract The accelerating energy demand all over the world and the fast depletion of fossil fuels have spurred the need for alternative energy sources for the survival of future generations. Hence, biofuel production attracted significant attention in this era. Besides energy generation, positive environmental impact has been appeared as one of the most influential parameters to implement biofuels together with fossil fuel. Therefore, for the sake of alternative energy generation and greener environment, this chapter emphasized on the production of the most popular biofuel, i.e., biodiesel. This study compared different experimental methods for biodiesel generation such as microwave, supercritical, and conventional approaches to enhance the transesterification process. Along with the elaborate explanation of optimized conditions, the main objective of this study was to determine the most prominent key method for the improvement of the transesterification process. During the stages of biomass pretreatment and biomass conversion into biodiesel, microwave synthesis approach for the transesterification process has been manifested as the most favorable method due to the highest biodiesel yield, fast processing period, excellent energy efficiency, and outstanding environmental-economic impact. Apart from that, this chapter also highlighted the comprehensive details of the physicochemical properties of biodiesel, potential biomass sources for biodiesel production, the scenario of global biodiesel production, and diverse ongoing applications of biodiesel worldwide.