Propel opens sixth station

High biodiesel prices are not a concern for Propel's founder.

On June 27, a day when oil reached $142 per barrel, Seattle-based Propel opened it’s sixth biodiesel fueling station. The station, or "Clean Fuel Point" as the company calls it, will provide retail and commercial customers B-5 and B-20 blends at one of the nation’s few sustainably built fuel stations.

The "green" elements of the station’s construction include its canopy, which has a green roof , a rainwater collection system to feed the site’s landscaping and LED lights that provide illumination only when needed. It was constructed with an aluminum composite made of 95 percent recycled materials. The landscaping includes planters that contain feedstock crops such as canola and camelina.

Propel Founder and CEO Rob Elam said the new location--a busy intersection along a main approach to Interstate 5 in the fast-growing and dense South Lake Union neighborhood--will help his company continue to grow. Though he declined to share detailed numbers, he said the company’s sales have grown every month since it opened its first station in October.

At the opening, Elam said Propel is looking to open 20 new stations in Washington, Oregon and California. The latter two in particular, he said, have "a great environment" for his business. "Washington has a lot of work to do to catch up to California and Oregon," he said. "I question the commitment of Washington to lowering CO2."

Propel is currently permitting a new station in Sacramento.

The signs at the South Lake Union station pegged B20 at $4.98 per gallon, which is about as much as diesel costs right now, but markedly higher than it was a year ago. This isn’t a concern for Elam, who says that over the long term he thinks the rise in price for biodiesel feedstocks "helped make biodiesel more sustainable," by pushing suppliers to use more diverse feedstocks such as waste grease.