Biofuels, a promising form of renewable energy, have the potential to
replace fossil fuels and mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. In the
presence of a catalyst, biodiesel, which is a biofuel, is produced through the process of
transesterification by combining vegetable oils or animal fats with methanol or ethanol.
The use of appropriate catalysts can improve the production efficiency of biodiesel,
shorten the production time, and reduce the occurrence of side reactions. This chapter
introduces different kinds of solid acid catalysts in the catalytic production of biodiesel,
especially the advantages of the simultaneous catalytic esterification and
transesterification reaction to produce biodiesel. This chapter introduces various solid
acid catalysts used in the catalytic production of biodiesel, especially the advantages of
simultaneous catalytic esterification and transesterification to produce biodiesel, as
well as the challenges faced by current research.
Keywords: Biomass, Biodiesel, Esterification, Solid acid catalysts, Transesterification.
