Researchers at the University of Toronto have invented a flexible plastic solar cell that is said to be five times more efficient than current methods in converting energy from the sun into electrical energy.

Team leader Ted Sargent, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the university, said the cell harnesses infrared light from the sun and can form a flexible film on the surface of cloth, paper or other materials.

And the film can turn 30 percent of the sun’s power into usable electrical energy — a far better performance than the 6 percent gleaned from the best plastic solar cells now in use.

"The fact that these materials harness the sun’s energy using flexible materials potentially could allow you to weave the plastics into fibers, sort of the way we have synthetic fibers already, and to weave those into clothing and make something that’s a wearable solar cell," Sargent said from Boston, where he is working until the summer.

"That’s sort of portable electricity."

Sargent said the coating could be woven into a shirt or sweater and used to charge an item like a cellphone.

"We expect that our cellphones or our e-mail can go anywhere with us, but we don’t have that expectation of a continuous supply of power. The best that we have is batteries, which run out," he said.

"So if we could have a wireless source of power like how the sun would provide, this would be pretty exciting."

Research about the new cell was published in the Sunday online edition of the scientific journal Nature Materials, and Sargent said he was now looking for investors who could turn the invention into a commercially viable product.

Terry White, president of the Solar Energy Society of Canada said solar cells on these lines could transform the industry.

"If they make (solar cells) both less expensive and the potential applications more varied, then it’s a major breakthrough," he said.

Sargent said the technology could be available to the average consumer within five to ten years. But it already has Wall Street venture capitalists interested.

"The technology really caught my eye both in the scientific literature and the business prospects," said Josh Wolfe, managing partner at Lux Capital in Manhattan, a venture capital firm that makes an estimated $1- to $2-million US investment per project in early stage nanotechnology.

"So the concept of having rollable newspaper displays or other things that could power your laptop or portable devices or create new products that are best left to the creativity of the engineers, to me, it represents a pretty sea- change."

So what happens if?the sun doesn’t shine?

"There is obviously no power in the visible (light)," said Sargent. "But in the infrared, it’s not completely zero power. It doesn’t have to be as hot as the sun, but everything that’s warm, gives off some heat. Even people and animals give off heat. So there actually is some power remaining in the infrared even when it appears to us to be dark outside."

Oil output by the world’s number three exporter after Saudi Arabia and Russia fell to 2.58 million bpd in December from 2.77 million in November, hit by closure of the 205,000 bpd Snorre and Vigdis fields after a gas leak on Nov. 28.

The state-run directorate said that Norway’s total output of oil, gas and condensates edged up to record 263 million cubic metres of oil equivalents in 2004 from 262 million in 2003 and was set to rise again to 264 million in 2005.

It said total output would peak in 2008 but gave no exact figures. It said, however, that total output in the five years 2005-09 would be 1.39 billion cubic metres of oil equivalent, or an annual average of 278 million cubic metres.

The directorate said that oil production would be "slightly lower" in 200?, dipping to 2.8 million bpd, or 160 million cubic metres, from 162.8 million cubic metres in 2004 and from 165.5 million in 2003.

It said that the 2004 oil output figure was 2.8 percent below previous forecasts, largely due to closure of Snorre and Vigdis. On Jan. 12, operator Statoil won a green light to restart almost half production.

Production by the non-OPEC producer was also dented in 2004 by a four-month rig workers’ strike.

Two new fields came on stream in 2004, Kvitebjorn and Skirne, and two more are expected to start up in 2005, Kristin and Urd.

Investments in petroleum in 2004 were 70 billion Norwegian crowns ($11.30 billion), excluding exploration costs, and up from 60 billion in 2003.

Norway, which found oil off its shores at the end of the 1960s, has seen oil output on many fields begin to taper off, though gas production is still growing steeply.

The survey, by Russian, British and Norwegian researchers, showed that bear numbers in the region were at the bottom of previous rough estimates of 3,000-5,000.

Still, "a stock of 3,000 animals is relatively large in biological terms," the Norwegian Environment Ministry said in a statement. The total is about 12 percent of an estimated global population of 25,000 polar bears.

"The count…gives us a good starting point for further protection of this creature. We know that polar bears are exposed to environmental poisons and climate change in the Arctic," Environment Minister Knut Arild Hareide said.

An eight-nation report in November said that the Arctic was warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet due to global warming, blamed by most scientists on a build-up of heat-trapping gases from burning fossil fuels.

The warming report, by 250 scientists, projected that polar bears could be driven towards extinction by 2100 because polar ice might almost disappear in summers. Some scientists disputed the findings.

Separate studies have shown relatively high levels of a banned "dirty dozen" chemicals, some of which can cause cancers, in the fat of polar bears. The chemicals, including pesticides, are swept north by winds from Europe and North America.

Russia has been in the grip of a demographic crisis since before the fall of the Soviet Union, as economic collapse cut the birth rate and rampant smoking, drinking and growing levels of disease have pushed up mortality.

"Forecasts show that by the middle of the 21st century the population will fall by around one third, to around 100 million peo?le," the Security Council said in a statement on Web site [url=http://www.scrf.gov.ru]www.scrf.gov.ru[/url]

"The demographic situation in Russia is extremely unfavourable, and in the next few years it could get even worse … The average life expectancy of a Russian man is 15 years less than that of the average American man."

Officials in areas as diverse as the economy and defence are concerned about the trend, seeing a collapse in Russia’s population from the current 145 million as catastrophic for the country’s future.

According to forecasts by the US Census Bureau, a population of 100 million in 2050 would give Russia the 17th largest population in the world, from its current eighth place.

Egypt, Uganda, Vietnam and Ethiopia will all move above it, according to the figures.

Biodiesel has been gaining in popularity elsewhere in Europe for up to a decade but is only now beginning to make an impact in Britain.

"I believe we’re in the right place at the right time," Sean Sutcliffe, the firm’s newly-appointed chief executive told Reuters by telephone.

"Our top priority is to get our new 250,000-tonne-a-year plant at Teesside up and running by the middle of this year so we can produce the first biodiesel going into the north- east — and potentially into Europe as well."

Biodiesel, produced from a variety of vegetable oils, is seen as an environmentally-friendly alternative or addition to regular diesel.

UK-based Biofuels Corp., which floated in London in June last year, refused to be drawn on the plant’s cost, but industry estimates put the figure at between 21 and 25 million pounds ($40 to $47 million).

Sutcliffe said a sizeable amount of output will move to a nearby refinery owned by Dutch oil refiner Petroplus after it agreed to buy around 350,000 tonnes in a five-year deal — Petroplus markets "Bioplus," a 95:5 blend of ultra-low- sulphur diesel and biodiesel.

The firm said it has also agreed a 30-year contract with Simon Storage, which will store and handle biodiesel near the plant at Teesside. Simon Storage is to invest 3.5 million pounds on tanks and facilities.

Teesside located on England’s north-east coast is a key hub for Britain’s energy and chemical sector.

"It’s a good time to be doing this. I think that the market is showing a lot of appetite for this product because of the positive (commercial) environment and also because of the technical specifications the product has," said Sutcliffe, who until joining the firm on Jan. 10 was previously vice- president and managing director of new businesses at BG Group.

Glycerine, a type of alcohol, will also be produced at the plant.

EYES RAPE, PALM OIL

The company said it would be looking to process mainly rapeseed and palm oil at the new facility.

"It’s a highly flexible plant in terms of feedstocks. We’ll be able to use a combination of predominantly rapeseed and refined palm oil, but we can adapt ourselves to ensure that we have the best commercial mix," Sutcliffe said.

The EU is keen to see biofuel account for two percent of all fuels sales in 2005, rising to 5.75 percent in 2010.

($1 US = 0.5311 British Pounds)

The EU scraps trawlers every year, but instead of destroying the boats European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said they could be given to the coastal Indian Ocean states ravaged by the Dec. 26 wave, which wiped out the fishing industry.

"We have all seen pictures of boats wrecked by the tsunami and our own fishing industry is about to destroy boats from its own fleet in line with fishery limits," Barroso told a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

"My services are currently exploring whether vessels are available, what state of repair they are in and if they meet the needs of the fishing communities in the tsunami- affected areas."

The 25-nation bloc has pledged 1.5 billion euros to the tsunami-hit states and backed calls for debt ?elief. It is also seeking to give the worst-affected states trade breaks.

"Our products have been sold out for 2005. We are now writing contracts for 2006," Frank Asbeck, 46, told Reuters in an interview at his office in the former capital of Germany.

SolarWorld and local rivals such as Q Cells and Conergy have benefited from Germany’s renewable energy law that guarantees above-market prices for solar power fed into?electricity network for 20 years.

The law, which went into effect last year, helps SolarWorld compete in the rapidly growing $7 billion world solar market.

Asbeck said the company plans to invest more than 150 million euros ($197 million) over the next two years to boost its capacity, currently running at full steam.

He said the investments would be financed by government funds, bank loans and equity, and there was no need for a fund raising exercise.

SolarWorld shares rose 0.8 percent to 76.35 euros by 1226 GMT following the news, reversing a fall of as much as 1.7 percent earlier, while the German technology index was flat.

Since the end of 2002, SolarWorld shares have risen around 14 times, boosting its market value to around 440 million euros from 32 million.

Asbeck has already said he expects the firm’s 2004 net profit to come in higher than Solarworld’s own forecast of 14 million euros.

A VISION LIKE INTEL

In addition, the company plans to raise its dividend. "A doubling from 2003 is not an unrealistic estimate," he said.

The firm, about 40 percent controlled by the Asbeck family, paid a dividend of 18 euro cents per share in 2003.

"We are focusing on being the biggest wafer producer (in the world)," Asbeck said.

"In every module (solar panel) around the world, there should be a wafer from SolarWorld, like the chip from Intel in most computers."

He said the firm’s board plans to recommend issuing bonus shares to shareholders, which can help improve liquidity in the only listed pure-solar-energy stock in Germany.

According to Reuters Research, the stock trades at 34 times 2005 estimated earnings, while solar-related firms such as Tokuyama in Japan and Evergreen Solar in the United States trade at 21 times and 19 times respectively.

SolarWorld, which competes globally with bigger rivals like Sharp Corp, BP Solar, Shell Solar and Kyocera, joined Germany’s technology index in December.

In 2010, analysts expect the solar power market — which has been growing at about 30 percent a year since 1990 — to be worth around $30 billion.

Industry body UVS said there was more solar power installed in Germany last year than any other country, with installed capacity rising some 300 megawatts to 700 megawatts — about the size of a small nuclear or coal-fired power plant.

Despite strong growth, the share of solar power in the country’s energy production remained below 1 percent.

SolarWorld also makes silicon wafers used in the solar industry and is estimated to have a 15 percent share of the world solar wafer market.

The normally ferocious Russian winter, the bane of invaders from Napoleon to Hitler, has been unusually mild this year with temperatures hitting record seasonal highs.

"For a second day we are organising extra observation of a female black bear, which has woken up because of the warmth," a spokesman for the zoo in Russia’s second- largest city of St Petersburg told the agency.

"The zoo’s brown bear hasn’t gone to sleep this year."

Temperatures in European Russia are forecast to fall by the end of this week, and return from a current balmy 6 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit) to below freezing.

In Northern Ireland’s second city, Londonderry, a man was killed when the vehicle he was driving was blown off a bridge and plunged 100 ft (30 metres) onto a riverbank.

A second driver was killed in eastern Scotland when a lorry rolled onto his car. The storm, one of the strongest to hit northern Britain in a decade, was blamed for a third death in Dundee, Scotland, but details were not immediately available.

Scottish Hydro Electric said 60,000 people had lost power and repairs were delayed by the weather, which brought heavy rain and snow to some areas.

A Spanish fishing trawler carrying 19 crew went missing overnight in rough waters about 120 miles (190 km) off the coast of Scotland, but was later spotted by a Royal Air Force (RAF) surveillance aircraft.

"It appears all on board are safe," an RAF spokesman said. With possible widespread damage to trees, structural damage to buildings and coastal flooding at high tides, the Met office warned motorists and others to avoid unnecessary travel.

"Driving conditions will become extremely dangerous. High- sided vehicles could be easily overturned, especially if unladen," it said in a warning for northern Scotland.

The severe weather followed a storm that killed three people, caused rivers to overflow and widespread damage to parts of northern Britain at the weekend.