Editorial: plant seed oils and their potential for Biofuel production

Abstract

Oils derived from plant seeds and microalgae comprise mainly triacylglycerols (TAG) molecules with very high energy density, making them an ideal source for biofuels. These renewable energy sources for transportation are increasingly in demand by societies because they do not raise global carbon dioxide levels. The most common biofuel derived from seed oils is biodiesel, which consists of the fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) produced from the TAG molecules. More recently, renewable aviation fuels termed “biojet” have been synthesized from seed oils through hydroprocessing. The economics of production limits the widespread adoption of fuels derived from seed and microalgal oils. For example, the available oil feedstock is not enough for the fuel market size (Durrett et al., 2008), and it often represents the highest cost of production (Veljković et al., 2018). While increasing seed oil production would help offset these problems, it should be done in a sustainable manner that does not destroy existing ecosystems or compete with food production. Also, biodiesel derived from some vegetable oils suffers poor cold-temperature properties and is prone to oxidation compared to conventional diesel. Solving these problems requires multidisciplinary approaches, some of which are presented in this Research Topic.