“This has led to huge food shortages.

“Also, the solvent used is very expensive and the process takes a long time.

“You end up with the biofuel but also have tonnes of glycerin. There’s only so much soap that the world needs from glycerin, so the rest ends up in waste sites.” He added: “This process is different; the raw material is everywhere, think of all the fast food outlets and restaurants.

“At the moment, people have to pay to get rid of this and it ends up in waste sites or contaminating sewerage; this way, there could never be enough waste oil.

“The solvent used is on a three to one ratio, reducing it by 10 fold, it requires 30 times less catalyst and the process takes a maximum of 15 minutes.

“One litre of oil makes one litre of biofuel – like for like – with less glycerin, which we then use to make an additive to skim off the biofuel and start the recycling process.”

Nowhere else in the world is using this technology and his work has led to Prof Al-Shamma addressing European leaders in the EU Parliament.

He added: “I think this will be the future because the big oil industry players are investing in biofuel.”

And Prof Al-Shamma’s microwave technology doesn’t only stop at vegetable oil. The university has been given £580,000 to turn grass into LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas).

The university is hoping to take polluted, infertile grass and weeds from brownfield sites and break down the sugar to create bio-ethanol.