Biodiesel is now produced in several countries worldwide. The various feedstocks used in the synthesis of biodiesel range from edible to nonedible oils and fats. As per an estimate, Malaysia tops the world in the level of production potential of biodiesel, fol­lowed by Indonesia, Argentina, the United States, Brazil, The Netherlands, Germany, Philippines, Belgium, and Spain. The feedstock diverted for the production of biodiesel in these countries is mostly edible oil (28% soybean oil, 22% palm oil, 11% coconut oil, and 5% comprising rapeseed, sunflower, and olive oils). The remaining 20% con­stitutes animal fats (Sharma and Singh, 2009). However, the developing nations are net importers of edible oil and cannot divert the edible oil for biodiesel production; thus, significant emphasis is placed on alternative feedstocks. Waste cooking and frying oil, waste fat or oil obtained from animal and fish, and microalgal oil have emerged as potential biodiesel feedstocks. Microalgal oil from some species has shown immense potential to produce oil if provided with optimum conditions. The total amount of bio­diesel produced worldwide was 16,000 ktonnes in 2009 (Santacesaria et al., 2012). The country that leads in biodiesel production is Germany, followed by France, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Thailand, Belgium, Poland, The Netherlands, Austria, China, Columbia, and South Korea. The biodiesel produced in other countries amounts to 17% of the total production worldwide (http://www. biofuels-platform. ch/ en/infos/production. php? id = biodiesel). Biodiesel production from some of the leading countries is listed in Table 8.2. At present, biodiesel is mostly used as transport fuel in

compression ignition engines. However, it can also be utilized as fuel to run generator sets, etc.