Energy and cost analyses of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil Ahmad Mohammadshirazi n , Asadolah Akram, Shahin Rafiee, Elnaz Bagheri Kalhor Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran article info Article history: Received 12 July 2012 Received in revised form 20 September 2013 Accepted 31 January 2014 Keywords: Energy input Waste cooking oil (WCO) Biodiesel production abstract Waste cooking oil is one of the energy sources for its unique composition which contains glycerol, It can be a good base for producing biodiesel. The objective of this study is to perform the energy and economic analyses of biodiesel production from Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) by the conventional transesterification method at the Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. Data is acceded by performed biodiesel machine, with three replications during spring season (2012) in the same condition. The volume of biodiesel machine is 2000 L and the area of this lab is 100 m 2 . The total energy input and energy output were calculated as 30.05 and 44.91 MJ L 1 , respectively. The energy output/input ratio was 1.49 in biodiesel production. The shares of renewable and non-renewable energy were 77.31% and 22.69%, respectively from total energy input. The benefit to cost ratio was found to be 2.081 according to the result of economical analysis of biodiesel production. The mean net return and productivity from biodiesel production were found to be 1.298 $ L 1 and 0.946 kg $ 1 , respectively. The results showed that by applying ultrasonic and microwave instead of transesterfication and great managing, more benefit can be resulted. & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 2. Materials and methods ................................................................................................. 3 3. Results and discussion.................................................................................................. 4 3.1. Analysis of input–output energy used in the biodiesel production......................................................... 4 3.2. Economic analysis of biodiesel production............................................................................ 5 4. Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 5 References ............................................................................................................... 6 1. Introduction Biomass can be re-grown from seeds or plant parts as long as solar energy, soil nutrients and a source of water exist. For this reason, biomass is recognized as a renewable source of energy. In recent years global interest in renewable energy production has significantly increased due to being eco-friendly and is seen as a means of helping to reduce global warming by displacing the use of fossil fuels. However, to be considered as a sustainable source, the input of energy required for biomass production must not exceed the output or amount of energy that can be extracted from the biomass. Due to its renewable, biodegradable, nontoxic and environmentally beneficial characteristics, biofuel is consid- ered as an ideal alternative for fossil fuels. The production and use of biofuel has the potential of reducing dependence on petroleum, improving environmental quality, lowering the amount of emissions produced by human activities such as greenhouse gases (GHG), promoting rural development, and providing job opportunities [1,2]. Like many other countries such as the United States of America and some European Union countries [3], China is laying much effort in producing biofuel for vehicles and easing the great pressures from oil scarcity and environmental degradation, and at the same time promoting rural development. In 2006, the National Development and Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rser Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.01.067 1364-0321 & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. n Corresponding author. Tel.: þ98 2612801011; fax: þ98 2612808138. E-mail address: ahmad_mshirazi@ut.ac.ir (A. Mohammadshirazi). Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 33 (2014) 44–49