"This summer, the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (CUMTD) maintenance facility got something cool to go on top of its roof — a big photovoltaic system — 1,212 panels.

According to Jane Sullivan, whose title at CUMTD is grant manager and sustainability planner (and who is a 2012 graduate of the UI School of Earth, Society, and Environment, where I teach), it's the biggest solar array operating in central Illinois.

It generates 350,000-kilowatt hours of electricity over the course of the year, which translates to one quarter of the electricity used there. (The maintenance facility is a busy place, operating 24/7 when the UI is in session and providing full service maintenance for the district's 102-bus fleet.)

Sullivan said the investment in solar is in keeping with the broader environmental mission of the district. "We're interested in finding as many ways as we can to reduce our environmental impact, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is an important part of that."" - Rob Kanter, http://www.news-gazette.com/living/2014-09-28/environmental-almanac-loca...