Word: landing
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...could this politically backed, popularly supported solar surge spiral into eco-disaster? That's what some say is happening to the Carrisa Plains, a sparsely populated swath of arid, sunny and relatively cheap land in eastern San Luis Obispo County, where three of the world's largest solar plants ever proposed are under review. Together, the Topaz Solar Farm, California Valley Solar Ranch (both photovoltaic projects) and the Carrizo Energy Solar Farm (a solar thermal operation) would provide energy to nearly 100,000 Golden State homes, but only by covering roughly 16 sq. mi. (41 sq km) of the ecologically...
...solar is needed, and soon. "There is certainly a good place for distributed generation, but to ensure the reliability of the grid, you do need large-scale power generation," she says, explaining that solar thermal is the most efficient renewable energy source available in terms of the amount of land used...
This isn't the first time solar has been proposed for the plains, however. Darrell Twisselman - whose family has lived in the area since the 1880s and whose land would host the two photovoltaic plants for a hefty profit - remembers when they built a solar photovoltaic plant there in the mid-1980s. (At 6 megawatts, it was tiny compared with the current proposals, one of which has a 177-megawatt capacity.) The project faced similar gripes then. "Everyone complained about them for two weeks, and then everyone forgot," Twisselman says. "And they were what you might say unsightly. You could...
...Even Toyota, the model of a modern car company, is facing its first operating loss in decades. Tata Motors, India's largest automaker, is not immune. Sales of its commercial vehicles and cars have slumped, and debt from the company's purchase last year of luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover is weighing on Tata Motors' balance sheet. Tata argues that the Nano is exactly the right car for these difficult times. "If I had conceived a million-dollar supercar today, I think you'd have every reason to question whether that's the right product at the right time...
...Troubles While the company seeks to redefine the low end of the market, Tata Motors is struggling with its attempt to gate-crash the luxury-car segment. Last year, the Indian carmaker made auto-industry waves when it spent $2.3 billion to buy Ford Motor's lossmaking Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) business. Since then, demand for luxury vehicles has tanked, sales of Tata Motors other models have softened, and the company faces a looming deadline to refinance $2 billion in loans for the JLR deal. "That's a major cash-flow crunch for them," Jajoo says. The company...