In this study, sodium methoxide (CH3ONa) catalyst with a microwave heating system was used to improve palm methyl ester yields, and reduce both reaction time and energy consumption. The experimental results indicate that the palm methyl ester yield first increased along with the amount of catalyst, reaction time, methanol to oil molar ratio, and reaction power, and then decreased as these parameters rose above certain levels. In conclusion, the best methyl ester yield was 99.5% with methyl ester content of 99.8% and biodiesel yield of 99.7% at 0.75 wt% CH3ONa catalyst, a methanol to oil molar ratio of 6, reaction time of 3 min, and microwave power of 750 W. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.