An Illinois Department of Transportation maintenance yard in East St. Louis will soon be powered by solar energy.

This is a step toward the state’s goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

IDOT, in partnership with the Capital Development Board and the University of Illinois, will install solar panels on an empty plot of land in Lebanon owned by IDOT. Construction on the site started earlier this year.

The panels will power the HVAC and air compressors at the Scott Dome Yard maintenance facility along Interstate 64. In the winter, they will also help warm up snowplows, Illinois Secretary of Transportation Gia Biagi said.

Biagi said the department owns unused land that could house more solar panels.

“We have a lot of excess land,” Biagi said. “So the question is, how do we pu

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