A Unique Approach to Renewable Fuel Market Development in Western Pennsylvania

(ACT News) ... Ed Vogel Sr. started the company’s first municipal waste landfill in 1965, the Seneca Landfill in Butler County. More than a decade ago, the Vogel family set out to find a way to utilize the fugitive methane emissions that landfills produce as organic waste decomposes. This led Vogel to become the first company in Pennsylvania to capture the landfill gas they generate and refine it into renewable natural gas(RNG) to fuel their fleet of refuse vehicles that collect the waste that is deposited into the landfill. Compared to diesel, RNG has 27% lower carbon dioxide emissions, 80% lower GHG emissions, and 95% lower NOx emissions.

The company calls their new RNG venture Lego-V (pronounced Lego five), creatively named by spelling Vogel backwards. ACT News recently caught up with Ed Vogel Jr. to learn what else his team plans to do with the RNG they are producing.

The RNG was actually initially used on-site at Seneca to power operations, and was also injected into the local utility natural gas pipeline for direct use by consumers and local businesses. We’ve used this pipeline since 2011, and we’ll continue delivering RNG in this manner to the utility.

Lego-V opened its first public renewable compressed natural gas (RCNG) fast-fill station in June at the entrance to the Seneca Landfill property. By positioning it on a public access road, it can service our fleet, as well as other local waste haulers, transit bus fleets, goods movement transport trucks, delivery vans, and other fleet vehicles.

Yes, we’ve been in discussion with both public and private fleets who are interested in fueling at the station. The price of diesel for heavy duty trucks is currently between 50 and 80 cents more per diesel gallon equivalent of RCNG and it’s forecasted to continue to rise. The price of our RCNG won’t fluctuate, so we can predict long-term price stability and pass that along to our customers. Fleets can make long-term plans based on this.

On the fuel side, we are active participants in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, using Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs). Without the RINs market, projects like ours would not work. READ MORE