A research was reported that biodiesel was produced by alkaline-catalyzed transesterification of rice bran oil. The content of methyl ester was analyzed by chromatographic analysis. Through orthogonal analysis of parameters in a four-factor and three-level test, the optimum condition was obtained for the transesterification: molar ratio of oil was 6, usage amount of KOH was 0.9%, reaction temperature was 50℃ and reaction duration was 45 min. Fuel properties of RBO biodiesel were studied and compared with American and European standards for biodiesel Fuel properties are very similar to those of 0＃diesel. Emission tests have shown a marked decrease in CO, HC and slight increase in NOx.