Biodiesel production using immobilized lipase: feasibility and challenges

Fatty acid alkyl esters (FAAE, also known as biodiesel) is one of the best alternatives to fossil fuels. Biodiesel can be synthesized via transesterification of oil with alcohol by either chemical or enzymatic catalysis. In particular, immobilized lipase as biocatalyst for transesterification has recently drawn great attention due to its environmental and economic benefits over conventional chemical catalytic processes. This paper provides an in-depth review of the feasibility and the challenges of biodiesel production catalyzed by immobilized lipase, with the emphasis on lipase immobilization techniques, factors affecting biodiesel synthesis, and whole cell catalysis. It is necessary to upgrade the existing methods and to further exploit new techniques to make the immobilized lipase-catalyzed biodiesel synthesis technically feasible and commercially viable for practical applications.