Downtown to get a biodiesel station

Biodiesel retailer Propel Biofuels will open one of its stations in South Lake Union next March, developer Vulcan said Thursday.

The station, downtown's first biodiesel retail location, will be at the southwest corner of Westlake Avenue and Valley Street. The station will be open 24 hours, 7 days a week.

It will be Propel Biodiesel's flagship stand-alone station, Propel founder Rob Elam said in a statement. Propel's two existing pumps in Ballard and Kenmore are located at an auto repair shop and a conventional gas station.

Propel plans to create a green landscaped area around the station planted with biodiesel crops — canola, camelina, switchgrass and soy beans.