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Interior Dept. OKs first solar projects on public lands

While news of the White House solar installation captured the world's attention yesterday, another historic change that could have greater impact on solar energy in the U.S. was taking place.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, announced it had approved the first large-scale solar-energy projects to ever be built on public land.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed final versions of the Records of Decision for two solar installations, both of which happen to be on public lands in California. They will have a large impact on the amount of electricity generated from solar as a result.

"There are 11 million acres of public lands in the California Desert, and a large majority of those lands are managed for conservation purposes. These projects, while a significant commitment of public land, actually represent less than one-hundredth of one percent of that total area. Given the many benefits, the extensive mitigation measures, and the fair market value economic return, approval of these projects is clearly in the public interest," Salazar said in a statement.

One of the alternative-energy projects approved was proposed by a subsidiary of the oil giant Chevron.

The Chevron Lucerne Valley Solar Project, which will be overseen by the Chevron subsidiary Chevron Energy Solutions of California, was granted use of 422 acres of public land in San Bernardino County, Calif., for the purpose of building a 45-megawatt solar plant consisting of 40,500 solar panels. The land is located near California State Route 247 north of San Bernardino National Forest and abuts an existing transmission line. When complete it's expected to generate enough electricity to power between 13,500 and 33,750 homes at any given time. (The range takes into consideration the natural fluctuation in available solar power.)

Another project, the Imperial Valley Solar Project, which will be overseen by Tessera Solar of Texas, was granted use of 6,360 acres of public lands in Imperial County, Calif. It's desert land located along Interstate 8 near Plaster City, Calif., just north of the California-Mexico border. That plant will consist of 28,360 parabolic solar dishes estimated to produce about 709 megawatts worth of energy annually. Once up and running, that plant is expected to provide enough energy to power between 212,700 and 531,750 homes at any given time.… Read more

Poll: Best car from Paris

With a mix of new models and concept cars at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, automakers showed off some fine sleds. We found a lot of cars we wanted to jump in and drive away right there on the show floor. Being a European show, names such as Jaguar, Lotus, Audi, and BMW stood center stage with drool-worthy vehicles.

Some of the cars touched an aesthetic nerve, works of automotive sculpture such as the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento. The Ford Focus ST looked like affordable fun, and had us eager for the U.S. launch. While the Jaguar C-X75 tweaked our … Read more

In Paris, a jet-powered Jag, a tiny Land Rover, and five Lotus concepts

We just returned from the press preview of the 2010 Paris Motor Show, which is open to the public from now until October 17, where we saw a hybrid turbine car from Jaguar, iPads in a BMW, a scary Lamborghini, a compact SUV from Land Rover, and every car Lotus will build up to 2015.

Jaguar C-X75 concept Jaguar's C-X75 is one of those concept cars we wish was in production right now. An innovative hybrid powertrain using micro-turbines means it hits 60 mph in about 3.4 seconds yet gets about 36 mpg.

Lamborghini Sesto Elemento concept Lamborghini'… Read more

The littlest Land Rover

No, it's not a children's fable, the littlest Land Rover is actually a new model, the Evoque.

Faced with tightening emissions regulations, Land Rover went small, designing a new model that would get adequate power from a small engine. The result is the very modern-looking Evoque, a departure for Land Rover from its usual safari-capable tanks.

But despite the Evoque's size, it is no lightweight. Land Rover fitted it with every technology that currently makes its bigger models capable of tackling any terrain. Not only does the Evoque feature all-wheel-drive, but it has systems for descent control … Read more

2011 Subaru Forester to offer HD Digital Radio

Subaru will treat owners of the 2011 Forester with a better-sounding radio through HD Digital Radio.

The service will be included with the "premium radio" package option on the Forester. HD Digital Radio offers more than 2,000 crystal-clear AM and FM stations without a subscription fee.

Other automakers that offer HD Digital Radio receivers include Audi, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Land Rover, Lincoln and Mercedes-Benz. This option is a first for Subaru models.

The service will also offer iTunes Tagging. iTunes Tagging lets you capture information about a song on the radio and store it on your iPod … Read more

Ride and Drive: 2011 Range Rover and LR4 tackle the San Juan Mountains

We recently got a chance to go on the most amazing off-road adventure in the 2011 Range Rover and the 2011 LR4. Both vehicles have had minor tuning to their engines to make them more efficient, and a bit of a face lift on the body. But where judgment really stands is how well the Range Rover and LR4 do in the great outdoors.

Beauty and the Beast

On the first day of our wild adventure, we went from Telluride over Imogene pass in the San Juan Mountain Range--to an elevation of 13,000ft.

The 6,000-lb Range Rover is a beast, but climbs up the rocky trailways like a mountain goat. With a 5.0-liter, 510hp supercharged V8, we weren't concerned with setting 0-60 mph records; although the Range Rover can do 0-60 in 5.9 seconds.

The Colorado mountainside provided the best place for us to try out the Range Rover's new features: Gradient Acceleration Control and Hill Start Assist. Hill Start Assist keeps the initial driver-generated brake pressure long enough for your foot to move from brake to accelerator without the car rolling backward on the rocky trails.… Read more

California approves giant thermal solar plant

California's energy regulatory agency on Wednesday approved plans to build a 250-megawatt solar thermal farm near the Mojave Desert.

The Beacon Solar Energy thermal solar plant would be built at the western edge of the Mojave Desert, roughly 15 miles north of the town of Mojave itself. It would cover about 2,012 acres in Kern County, Calif., according to the California Energy Commission.

And it may just be the first of many to be approved by the CEC before the end of this year.

The Beacon project is being touted by many as the first solar thermal project … Read more

Desert dispatch: Utah family races to 335 mph

Despite a bit of rain on the Salt Flats on Wednesday, Mike Nish piloted the Royal Purple streamliner to 335 mph at the 62nd annual running of Bonneville Speed Week. The team will have to match or exceed the same speed on Thursday to be the land speed record holders for the vehicle's class.

Nish, 50, along with his father Terry and brothers Jeff and J.T., have long-been known as Utah's fastest family. The Nish's streamliner, which competes in the nonsupercharged-engine category, hit a top speed of 335.348 mph at the third mile of the … Read more

Cyber Command chief details threats to U.S.

If the United States wants to defend itself against cyberattacks, it needs to focus on four key areas, according to United States Cyber Command head and NSA Director Army Gen. Keith Alexander.

Speaking Tuesday on the first day of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association's LandWarNet conference in Tampa, Fla., Alexander discussed the dangers to the country's military networks and what the U.S. must do to safeguard them.

The general said the threat of cyberattack affects more than 7 million different computers on more than 1,500 individual networks maintained by the Defense Department.

"On … Read more

From 0 to 1,000 mph in 42 seconds

Meet Bloodhound, the 1,000 mph supersonic car. Actually, its top speed is 1,050 mph, but when you're a couple hundred miles an hour faster than the speed of sound, most jets, and all other Land Speed record holders, who's counting?

A life-size replica of the Bloodhoud SCC was unveiled at the Farnborough International Airshow on Monday. The organization, which uses the supersonic car as a teaching vehicle to promote science education throughout schools in the U.K., also uploaded an animation of the Bloodhound's 133,000-hp propulsion system.

The Bloodhound will attempt to break the … Read more