Valorization of Wastes for Biodiesel Production: The Brazilian Case

Abstract

This chapter intends to bring an overview about the Brazilian researches and their contributions to the production of biodiesel fromwastes. Currently, the main obstacles to spread the use of biodiesel are its high cost of production and the competition between biodiesel and food industries. So, the use of wastes plays an important role in reducing the biodiesel costs and reusing the materials that have no other applications, as deodorization residues, neutralization soap sticks, and animal fats, among others. Then, we present a review about Brazilian studies involving waste oils and fatty–acid-rich raw materials that helped the advancement in this field of knowledge during the last few years.