History

Our Story

We all know that moving away from diesel is better for the environment, the health of our drivers, and the air that we breathe. But transforming the way an entire industry operates is no easy task. Entrepreneur and energy pioneer T. Boone Pickens and current Clean Energy president and CEO Andrew Littlefair had a vision to change this country for the better. That’s been our mission from the start.

Clean Energy went public in 2007 (Nasdaq: CLNE) and in 2013, we launched renewable natural gas (RNG) for transportation, introducing a fuel that reduces both carbon and smog-forming NOx emissions. We’ve never looked back, since.

By 2025, the RNG we provide at Clean Energy stations will be fully zero-carbon and it will be available at all of our stations across North America. That’s 20 years ahead of California’s own statewide goal.

1988

T. Boone Pickens gets behind natural gas as a cleaner, less expensive transportation fuel, realizing its best use is to power commercial trucks that consume high volumes of diesel and gasoline.

1993

Pickens’ Mesa Petroleum launches a new division, Mesa Environmental, offering natural gas conversion kits. UPS & United States Postal Service are among its first customers.

1996

Pickens and Andrew J. Littlefair spin off a natural gas fueling business from Mesa Petroleum with 3 fueling stations, 1 employee and a repair truck. The new company is named Pickens Fuel Corp.

1997

Pickens Fuel Corp. opens doors in Seal Beach, CA and purchases SoCal Gas Company’s 33 natural gas fueling stations for $3.6 million.

1998

Pickens Fuel Corp. sells 5 million GGEs of natural gas.

2001

BC Gas purchases 75% of Pickens Fuel Corp. for $21 million and the company name is changed to Clean Energy Fuels Corp.

2007

Clean Energy Fuels goes public on May 25 (NASDAQ: CLNE), raising $138 million.

2010

Clean Energy signs a partnership with Pilot/Flying J, the largest truck-stop operator, and begins building America’s Natural Gas Highway™.

2013

Clean Energy launches its renewable natural gas (RNG) product, selling 14 million GGEs, over three times the volume that the EPA projected would be produced by the entire industry nationwide.

2015

Clean Energy subsidiaries renamed to: Clean Energy Compression, Clean Energy Cryogenics, and Clean Energy Renewables.

RNG sales top 50 million GGEs.

2017

Clean Energy sells upstream RNG business to BP, signs long-term RNG supply agreement.

2018

Global energy giant Total, S.A. becomes 25% stockholder in Clean Energy with a $83.4 million investment.

2019

UPS signs a 7-year commitment for 170 million GGEs of RNG, the largest purchase of RNG in U.S. history.

Clean Energy sells 143 GGEs of RNG, a 30% increase from the previous year.

2021

Clean Energy pivots to focus entirely on RNG, launching a new logo and brand identity that aligns with its mission to turn sustainability goals into reality.

A lengthy history of working toward a cleaner future.