Profile - Rob del Bueno

Global warming is scary. Partly because soon we might be sun-bathing in January, but mostly because very few people want to do anything about it. At least there’s Rob del Bueno — a man with a plan to protect our planet. Along with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, del Bueno produces and distributes a brand of bio-diesel fuel called ReFuel. It emits much less carbon dioxide than petroleum gasoline.

He recently created a “stand-alone bio-diesel filling station in a box,” which is essentially like an ATM for bio-diesel. Gas stations don’t want to spend money installing bio-diesel pumps since so few people buy it; the filling station can be placed in random parking lots, making it a practical solution.

Del Bueno and SACE recently teamed up with Emory University. In November, they began taking all of the waste grease from Emory’s cafeterias to convert it into bio-diesel fuel. They then resell it back to the university for its student shuttles to run on.

Before del Bueno got involved with bio-diesel production, he played bass for the band Man or Astro-man?. In 2000, he opened up Zero Return, a recording studio that still operates today and serves several local bands.

Rob was not a chemistry major in college. He learned all of the science behind converting waste oil into bio-diesel by attending seminars and classes on the topic, which he and the SACE now teach.