What is Biodiesel?
Biodiesel is Diesel fuel made from vegetable oils and animal fats. Another term for biodiesel is fatty acid methyl ester. Biodiesel is made by transesterifying triglycerides (fats and oils). The fats and oils resemble a three legged stool. Each leg is an ester, the seat is a glycerin. The esters in the fats and oils are removed in the presence of a catalyst and combined with methanol. This results in a fatty acid methyl ester. The glycerin is removed from the fatty acid methyl ester and used for other products. The whole process is called transesterification.