A Boulder-based company has invested $100 million in a startup planning to gather methane emissions of landfills in two states and sell it as renewable natural gas. Pittsburgh-based Vision RNG LLC launched last week to develop landfill gas projects in Missouri and Virginia. The $100 million funding is an initial investment from a Boulder-based private equity firm to begin scaling the business, and Vision RNG may eventually look beyond the projects in Missouri and Virginia to develop other landfill gas systems, the company said.
Vision RNG LLC is one of the companies funded by investor Rueben Munger and Boulder-based Vision Ridge Partners. The company funded Vision RNG from the Sustainable Asset Fund II, where Munger is managing general partner, and one of three investment funds of Vision Ridge Partners that’s focused on real assets connected to environmental sustainability.
The startup is led by Bill Johnson, previously CEO of Pittsburgh-based ShalePro Energy Services, a company that designs and builds infrastructure for traditional natural gas producers. At Vision RNG, Johnson assembled a team with experience in landfill gas systems, natural gas compression and biogas operations. “Landfill gas has long created challenges for landfill owners, the surrounding communities, and the greater environment,” Johnson said, in a statement. Vision RNG “is determined to be part of the solution by developing projects that safely convert waste emissions into projects that are not only marketable, but also environmentally friendly.”