Propel customers track carbon credits

Sacramento-based Propel Biofuels released version 2.0 of its Web-based CleanDrive carbon emission reduction tracking system in January. The software enables Propel customers to see, track and publicize the carbon emission reductions they rack up using non-petroleum fuels purchased from Propel.

The first version of CleanDrive was launched about a year ago and has a few thousand regular users, according to Rob Elam, co-founder and CEO of Propel. This new version builds on the feedback from those customers and introduces features such as the ability to share personal tallies on Web sites and blogs.

Some of the biggest interest in the product comes from Propel's public-fleet customers in California, where the company recently relocated from Seattle, Elam says. Agencies such as CalTrans and the U.S. Postal Service use Voyager fleet fuel cards at Propel's new Sacramento fueling station. They are testing CleanDrive there while the company works to secure agreements with other fleet fuel card companies.

For now, how Propel will generate revenue from CleanDrive is unclear, Elam says. It is exploring the possibility of turning the credits into “points” redeemable for goods and services similar to how airline miles work. In the future, Elam says he hopes to license the CleanDrive platform to other companies and that as carbon-credit trading takes off, opportunities for revenues will become clear. For example, when California's Low-Carbon Fuel Standard comes into affect in 2010, Elam says he has “a hunch” that it will provide clear direction for a potential revenue stream from carbon credits. He also pointed to various carbon market proposals in the western United States and at the national level as possible paths toward monetization.

In January, the company opened its first stations outside of Washington, where it has six locations.