Tata Nano: rock star or eco-monster?

Unless you've been hiding under a stone, there is no way you can have missed the much-heralded arrival of Indian manufacturer Tata's new car, the Nano. Looking a bit like a cross between a biscuit tin and a shopping trolley, this tiny five-seater has been greeted in its native land with something bordering on hysteria.

Why? Well, it's the world's cheapest new car, retailing at an affordable 100,000 rupees (£1,366). For many Indian families it represents the transition from the indignity of the ubiquitous moped to the stately luxury of four wheels and a cabin to call your own. It's robustly basic, lacks standard European features like air bags and has a pokey two-cylinder engine, but is apparently nonetheless 'an amazing car'.
But a car all the same. Despite the Nano's claim to green credentials - it coughs up less CO2 than many motorbikes - the mere thought that it could shift as many as a million units a year in India alone (it won't hit the UK until 2011) has left many environmentalists choking on its tiny emissions.
The Nano provides a neat insight into one of the key issues of the climate change debate: who are the 'haves' who have reaped all the benefits of a fossil fuel economy to tell the 'have nots' they can't enjoy those same benefits? It's an argument neatly summed up in one user comment on 'We all love our country and its various offerings of nature and we would like to preserve them. But we would also like to continue on the path of progress that we have taken and create new chapters in the development of our country.'

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/climatechange/