This work reports on the preliminary results of using several acidic and basic solids, such as ZrO 2 , ZnO, SO 4 2− /SnO 2 , SO 4 2− /ZrO 2 , KNO 3 /KL zeolite and KNO 3 /ZrO 2 as heterogeneous catalysts for crude palm kernel oil (PKO) and crude coconut oil (CCO) transesterification with methanol. It was found that ZnO and SO 4 2− /ZrO 2 exhibited the highest activity for both PKO and CCO transesterification. In the case of SO 4 2− /ZrO 2 , only 1wt.% of this acidic solid was needed to catalyze the reaction, and resulted in fatty acid methyl esters content higher than 90%. Moreover, a study of the catalyst's recyclability indicated that the spent SO 4 2− /ZrO cannot be directly reused for the transesterification. However, this spent catalyst can be easily regenerated and the same activity can be obtained.