Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority and UGI Energy Services, Inc. LLC announced a partnership to use renewable natural gas to power the eighty-plus buses in LANTA’s fleet on Tuesday.

The agreement between LANTA and UGI calls for the Authority to purchase Pennsylvania-sourced biogas fed into the system from area landfills.

Renewable natural gas is biogas, the gaseous product of the decomposition of organic matter that has been processed to purity standards.

Like natural gas, RNG can be used as a transportation fuel.

LANTA’s Executive Director Owen P. O’Neil was joined by UGI’s Shaun Hart, vice president of Commodity Marketing, Growth & Retention, in announcing the agreement.

“This agreement is yet another step in LANTA’s ongoing commitment to helping create a greener Lehigh Valley … one mile at a time,” O’Neil said. “Starting in 2010 we put our first hybrid diesel-electric buses on the road, followed by a commitment to clean natural gas vehicles. Now, with this agreement with UGIES, renewable natural gas will power our fleet.”

This project marks a milestone for UGI Energy Services as this is the first agreement in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for a transportation authority to fuel their vehicles with RNG. We are proud to help LANTA and the surrounding communities in the Lehigh Valley reduce emissions while lowering their carbon footprint,” said UGI Energy Services President Joe Hartz.