As the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) began construction on its Depot District Clean Fuels Tech Center (the Depot) west of downtown Salt Lake City, archaeologists and crews expected to excavate gigantic concrete structures. This new hub for UTA’s partially electrified bus fleet was being built on approximately 1.4 acres of the main railyard that served the historic Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.
The nation’s largest landlord is open for business. Recent announcements of renewable energy goals by the Biden Administration have the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages over 256 million acres of land, seeking to permit 25 gigawatts of renewable energy (enough capacity to power approximately 4.75 million homes) by 2025. The BLM has begun setting up Renewable Energy Coordination Offices across the West and is processing more solar energy project applications than ever before.