The National Geographic News reported (and the sustainablog, then the Treehugger, then digg) that a Japanese team of scientists has discovered a cheaper alternative to the current catalyst (sodium or potasium hydroxide) used in the biodiesel production. The new and much less expensive catalyst is around 10 to 50 times cheaper, and it uses a common, inexpensive sugar to form a recyclable solid acid that does the job on the cheap.

technorati tags: biodiesel, catalyst, japanese+scientists, breakthrough