**3. Non-industrial experiences of biodiesel production in Mexico**

In the state of Oaxaca, since 2004, José Vasconcelos University has a pilot plant for experi‐ menting with the production of biodiesel from WVO, with a capacity of 45,000 L/year, which is used as B20 in a bus at the same university [12].

In 2005, Monterrey Institute of Technology built a first pilot plant for research purposes, to produce biodiesel from WVO, with the capacity to produce approximately 240,000 L/year [17].

In 2006, it was carried out a project entitled "Potential and Feasibility of Using Bioethanol and Biodiesel for Transport in Mexico", to determine the feasibility of producing such biofuels. In this project, it was assessed the production of biodiesel from rapeseed, soya, jatropha, sunflower and safflower oils, and the use of animal fat and WVO. The results suggest that farm input costs represent between 59% and 91% of biodiesel production costs, and as a result, animal tallow and WVO are an opportunity for biofuels production [18, 19].

In 2007, the Engineering Institute of the Autonomous University of Baja California processed the first batch of biodiesel from WVO. It counts with two reactors to process a total of 416 L of biodiesel per batch. Besides the use of WVO, biodiesel from castor oil and inedible oilseeds from Mexicali Valley has been obtained. Subsequently, there have been developed research projects on topics related to the inventory of residual feedstocks to produce biodiesel, the performance of internal combustion engines operating with diesel-biodiesel blends, as well as the study of the behavior of materials exposed to diesel, biodiesel and mixtures of both [6, 15, 16, 19-21]. Research focused on the production of biodiesel via enzymatic has been conducted as well [22-25].

In 2011, a National Laboratory of Biofuels was inaugurated in Chiapas as a result of the joint efforts by the government, the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) and the Tuxtla Gutiérrez Institute of Technology. Currently, analytical services for the biodiesel production chain are offered [26].

In 2012, the Autonomous University of Puebla began initial production tests to produce 18,000 L/year of biodiesel approximately, despite reporting a production capacity of up to 72,000 L/year. The raw material used was castor oil. The production was intended to supply trucks of the university transport system. The funds were granted by CONACYT and the state government [27].

In 2012, the Pumabus of Ciudad Universitaria (CU) began using biodiesel. This occurred as a result of studies conducted by students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), who determined that more than 10,720 L of WVO were annually discarded by the CU restaurants [28].

In 2013, with an investment of 1.6 million pesos, a plant for biodiesel production in Zacatecas, located in the Autonomous University of Fresnillo began operations. However, the expecta‐ tions were not met, since it was expected to link production and business sectors, but to date only serves for students to do practice and internship. The goal is to produce 100,000 L of biodiesel weekly [29].

The International Energy Agency (IEA) as a result of a study on "Advanced biofuels in developed and developing countries" mentioned that Mexico has a high level of human resources in the biofuels domain. Up to the date, there are several universities, government agencies and research centers such as CIATEC, CIATEJ, UAG, UABC, CIBNOR, CEPROBI, CIBA, CICY, UNAM, INECOL, CINVESTAV, CICESE, UADEC, SAGARPA, INIFAP and UANL, among others, are working on a wide range of investigation lines and research projects related to the pretreatment of WVO by chemical and enzymatic process for biodiesel produc‐ tion, research and development on microalgae, study of new feedstocks for second and third generation biodiesel production, biotechnological processes and new biocatalysts develop‐ ment for biodiesel production [30]. Further, there are research in progress on the development of biorefineries at pilot scale plant, to optimize the use of biomass resources for the production of biofuels e.g. biodiesel and bioturbosine from *Jatropha Curcas L.* and microalgae.

The CONACYT and Secretariat of Energy (SENER) have supported financially many projects of consortium institutions on biodiesel research and development, and biorefinery systems through national funds programs. One of them is an ongoing project that is conducted with the objective to generate knowledge frontier at laboratory and pilot scale of a biorefinery integral system for biogas production, biodiesel from microalgae and hydrogen from algae biomass residues, by using domestic wastewater. New marine microalgae strains with the highest energy potential and vegetable oil yield are being studied [31].
