By James Cronin, Portland Business Journal.

The state's Clean Fuels Program has kicked off with some big commitments.

Last week, Fred Meyer signed onto the Department of Environmental Quality's program, purchasing 500,000 gallons of renewable compressed natural gas derived from organic waste that will generate credits for the statewide program that aims to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles.

While the supermarket chain owns 31 trucks that run on liquified natural gas — a cleaner-burning fuel than diesel — Tesla Motors is the headliner for Oregon's program. The electric vehicle company signed on to generate Clean Fuels credits from 697,000 kilowatt-hours worth of electric vehicle charging at Tesla-owned charging stations.