Carbon Offsetting Booster’s Fleet

by Frank Mycroft

Today, I’m pleased to share that Booster is carbon offsetting all emissions from our vehicle fleet nationwide. We’re committed to continuing this investment as we grow.

A bit about why we’re doing this. In 2015, Diego, Tyler, and I founded Booster to fix the errand of getting gas. We wanted to improve on the gas station chore in every way. Booster had to be:

  • delightfully effortless for customers +
  • full-service in a white-glove kind-of way but at reasonable prices found at self-service stations +
  • lower strain for our environment and for commuters.

These constraints drove us to do things differently. Among other innovations, the constraints required inventing a proprietary new delivery vehicle that shortened the complex gas supply chain. This is the purple Booster mini-tanker you’ve seen in your parking lot.

Purple Booster mini-tankers as seen from high above servicing customers. Source: Google Maps.

Shortening the supply chain is good for economics. It’s a prime reason why we are able to offer free same-day delivery at all our service locations. But a short supply chain is also a smart way to lower strain on the environment. Fewer middlemen and one fewer fuel transfer point means lower vapor emissions and no need for underground fuel storage tanks.

Today we’re going a step further by carbon offsetting our vehicle fleet. This small action is true to our values and part of a larger phased approach to reduce emissions. Just as cutting out middlemen is a smart way to lower environmental strain, we wanted our carbon offset investments to focus on projects that are smart approaches to sustainability. We get excited when every dollar of sustainability is stretched to its maximum.

The projects that we fund are all based in the U.S., leveraging well-established offsetting standards, and delivered via permanent retirement on a public registry to ensure strong additionality. We worked with carbon offset leader 3Degrees and our support currently focuses on emission capture from landfills. We’re pretty excited to support these projects because of how effective they are.

Landfill gas (LFG) projects capture and sequester methane, a greenhouse gas that is about 30x more potent than CO2. Focusing on methane capture has numerous other side benefits that ease strain on environmental and community.

For instance, captured methane can be repurposed as fuel, displacing less sustainable sources. Secondly, just as Booster mitigates the risk from underground fuel tanks which are not in our supply chain, LFG projects mitigate the risk of groundwater pollution resulting from the leaching of toxic chemicals deposited in landfills. Lastly, landfill gas is pretty nasty stuff, and capturing methane gas prevents gas build up underground which can gradually move beneath the surface and potentially cause health issues.

Thank you for your continued support.

Frank Mycroft
Co-Founder and CEO
Booster