ATLANTA -- Drivers in Atlanta now have the option of buying carbon-neutral gasoline, with a first-of-its-kind pilot taking place at four area gas stations. Georgia Oil Holdings LLC is piloting the ZERO Clean Driving program from GreenPrint LLC, a new service that arranges carbon offsets for each gallon of gas purchased.
How it works: For every gallon of gasoline sold at a participating retailer, GreenPrint invests in offsets to cancel out the fuel's carbon emissions. The offset can be offered for all grades of gasoline, or just midgrade and/or premium, as a way of shifting customers to a more profitable grade.
GreenPrint also donates money to local greenscaping and tree-planting programs, so the impact may ultimately be positive instead of just neutral. The ZERO Clean Driving program includes point-of-purchase collateral as well as a live, potted tree to place near the pumps and supported by a local tree organization.
Georgia Oil Holdings is the first retailer to test the program, which will be piloted at four of its BP-branded locations in the Atlanta area. The stations are in Alpharetta, Roswell, Atlanta and Chamblee, Ga.
Atlanta-based Georgia Oil Holdings is part of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Arizona, Georgia & Florida Oil Holdings LLC, a distributor of fuel products that has owned and operated gas stations and convenience stores in the Atlanta, Phoenix and Orlando, Fla., markets.
"We believe that offering Carbon Neutral Gasoline has the potential to be a tremendous win-win for petroleum retailers, like us, and for consumers," said Mark Murgash, a senior executive with the company.
"Just like community recycling programs that have made it easy for tens of millions of people to do the right thing by simply placing their bottles and cans on the curb on trash day, we're confident that a program that makes it convenient for people who want to offset their carbon footprint when they fill their tank will be quickly embraced by consumers--and has the potential to differentiate us from our competitors."
"The consumers are clearly interested in the concept of carbon-neutral gasoline," said GreenPrint CEO Peter Davis, referring to internal research showing that 80% of people would be willing to pay more for carbon-neutral gasoline, and 57% would upgrade to midgrade or premium to purchase it. "Starting today we will provide them the ability to actually choose it at the pump when they fill their tanks."
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