Biodiesel is considered a sustainable and renewable alternative to the finite supply of petro-diesel. It can even be used in current diesel engines. Unfortunately, it is also more expensive in production. This paper reviews biodiesel characteristics, its production with homo- and heterogeneous catalysts as well as the benefits and challenges in comparison to petro-diesel.

Due to environmental reasons, the displacement of fossil fuels with fuels derived from biomass feedstock is gaining more importance. Here, the influence of the catalysts in the biomass thermochemical conversion is critically reviewed. Two catalyst systems, metal-containing and zeolite catalysts, are analyzed in terms of the pyrolysis performance and the ability to producing value-added products.

For thousands of years, biotechnology has been a cornerstone of human civilization and is destined to be a key technology of the 21th century with a great economic potential from everyday objects through to fine chemicals. Among latest concepts of the biorefinery, biofilm as well as microreactor techniques, and the synthetic biology are presented.

In fluid dynamics applications, a substantial amount of energy is applied to overcome drag forces. This paper reviews passive drag reduction techniques through bio-inspired riblets that have shown advantages in manipulating the turbulence boundary layer. Different geometries and types are discussed as well as the latest developments in the technology presented.

Chitin and chitosan are biopolymers with unique characteristics having immense structural possibilities for chemical and mechanical modifications. New properties, functions, and applications can be generated, e.g., for tissue engineering and pharmaceutical uses such as drug delivery and cancer treatment, agricultural, food and nutrition, cosmetics, water engineering, pervaporation and much more.