Evolutionary study of the use of biodiesel and its socioeconomic-environmental impact

Liquid biofuels have been used for a long time. According to historical records when Rudolph Diesel presented the diesel engine in the world fair in Paris in 1900 it run with vegetable oil from peanuts. Considering that petro-diesel comes from non-renewable sources and its use produces green house gases, there is a compelling attitude to add increasing proportions of Biodiesel to the petrol-diesel in various countries. In Brazil, the government established the National Program for the Production and Use of Biodiesel (PNPB), which also has social inclusion and regional development goals. From its creation to the present day many challenges have been overcome and lessons learned from constant research, developments and innovations. The present work aims to study and describe the historical evolution of biodiesel, regulations of its use, evaluation of the social and environmental benefits, problems generated and future perspectives regarding their use and growth. This is a bibliographical overview where theoretical and experimental researches described in doctoral theses, scientific articles, master's dissertations, government websites and specialized companies related to the biodiesel area are analysed and described. Most of the selected reports are related to Brazil and, consequently, are written in Portuguese