Mg-Al hydrotalcites doped with varying amounts of lanthanum and zinc ions (10 30 mol %) have been prepared by co-precipitation method and used, after calcination at 873 K, as solid base catalysts for transesterification of soybean oil with methanol (producing biodiesel) and n-octanol (producing biolubricants). The catalyst with 20 mol % of lanthanum shows the highest transesterification activity (soybean oil conversion = 100 % and biodiesel yield = 95 %) at 423 K in 4 h. Catalytic activity varies in proportion with the basicity of the catalysts.