Sustainable Biodiesel : Real-world Designs, Economics, and Applications

Sustainable Biodiesel: Real-World Designs, Economics, and Applications offers a unique, integrated approach that combines cutting-edge research results and the day-to-day aspects of biodiesel production at the industrial level. It brings together experienced academics and recognized industry experts to explore the most practical elements of research and discuss the limitations and future needs of the industry. The book critically reviews strategies for implementing biodiesel-based biorefineries, feedstock supply chains, reactor technologies, processes for biodiesel production, and biodiesel combustion, including advanced fuel formulations containing biodiesel. The authors examine biodiesel plants from the point of view of design, operation, quality control, and sustainability, including life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC). Policy and regulatory constraints in biodiesel production and commercialization as well as future trends and needs of the industry are also covered.

This book, as a volume of the "Biomass and Biofuels" series, provides researchers and practitioners in the field of biomass and biofuels with a well-rounded understanding of how the technologies developed in the lab can be deployed at commercial scale in a sustainable and cost-efficient way. This allows biofuels researchers to better develop technology that is fit for upscaling in an industrial setting and complies with sustainability goals. Practicing engineers, on the other hand, find in this volume up-to-date information on available technology, the latest advances, and future trends that will inform their decision-making when planning, implementing, and troubleshooting biodiesel-based bioenergy systems.

• Sheds light on the real-world aspects of biodiesel production while also covering the cutting-edge research results in the field
• Integrates design, economics, and sustainability aspects, minimizing the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical expertise, as well as between technical aspects and environmental and economic performances
• Includes realistic examples and case studies of applications of state-of-the-methodologies for life cycle assessment, life cycle impact assessment, and life cycle costing

Meisam Tabatabaei is a Professor of Environmental Biotechnology at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia. From 2010 to 2019, he worked closely with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to promote waste-oriented biofuels in the developing world. Since 2016, he has been the lead collaborator of the Lancet Commission on Public Health and Climate Change (UCL, UK). He has published over 450 works, including original research papers and reviews in leading journals such as The Lancet, Progress in Energy and Combustion Sciences, Nature Food, Trends in Biotechnology, and Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. He currently serves as a Visiting Professor at Henan Agricultural University (China), Visiting Professor & Global Ambassador at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada), and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Zhengzhou University (China). He has held top editorial roles in journals with impact factors above 30 and is currently Associate Editor of Critical Reviews in Biotechnology and an editorial board member of the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. As of June 2025, Prof. Tabatabaei has led and collaborated on 24 research projects with a focus on waste valorisation and biorefineries, sustainable aquaculture, climate change, and food security.

Abdul-Sattar Nizami has a master’s in engineering from the Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden. He has a Ph.D. in Sustainable Gaseous Biofuel from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University College Cork, Ireland. Later, he worked at the University of Toronto, Canada as a Postdoctoral Fellow on alternative fuels, life cycle studies under the Institute for Sustainable Energy. He served the Center of Excellence in Environmental Studies (CEES) of King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, as an Assistant Professor and Head of Solid Waste Management Unit, and is currently an Associate Professor at the Sustainable Development Study Centre (SDSC), Government College University, Pakistan. He has published more than 100 papers on the topics of renewable energy, alternative fuels, waste-to-energy, catalytic pyrolysis, anaerobic digestion, and resource recovery. Dr. Nizami is an Associate Editor in Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, Energy & Environment, and Frontiers in Energy Research. He is serving as an Editorial Board Member in Bioresource Technology Reports, and Energy Sources Part B.