Seneca Landfill, Inc. recently opened a fast-fill compressed natural gas (CNG) facility, under the name of Lego-V.
Seneca operates a gas collection system in our landfill to capture the methane gas that is generated when waste breaks down. The gas is siphoned out of the landfill cells using a series of wells and pipes, taking it to our onsite processing system. After multiple stages of compression, cleaning and filtering, the gas can be used in the following ways:
- compressed natural gas for CNG-fueled vehicles
- directly injected into the Peoples Gas pipeline
- used onsite to power our operations and heat our facilities
Seneca is a division of Vogel Holding, Inc., a family-run business for 60 years. Vogel is the first company in Pennsylvania to capture the landfill gas that they generate, refine it into natural gas, and then compress it into CNG fuel. That CNG fuel is used by the same vehicles that collect the waste that is deposited into the landfill. Lego-V’s CNG station will also be open to the public.
This project promotes the use of alternative renewable fuels (landfill derived biogas) instead of conventional diesel fuel to power Vogel's fleet of garbage vehicles and reduce the reliance on foreign and domestic oil. Converting approximately 22 existing diesel fueled vehicles to CNG will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 515 metric tons per year.
To put the environmental benefit into perspective, consider the following. The annual greenhouse gas emissions from the conversion of 22 diesel fueled garbage trucks will be reduced by the following percentages through conversion to CNG:
- Carbon monoxide (CO) by 70-90 percent
- Non-methane organic gas (NMOG) by 50-75 percent
- Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) by 75-95 percent
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2) by 20-30 percent
This is equivalent to the planting of 13,202 trees, removing 109 additional cars from the roadway and recycling 185 tons of waste instead of landfilling!
According to Edward R. Vogel, Vogel Vice-President, “We are passionate about promoting the use of this clean, alternative energy while continuing to improve the public’s perception of landfills, and we are continually trying to lead by example.”