The local County Council has kept the exact location of the house a secret, concerned about the prospect of disturbance to this rare species. The bat house was intended to provide more than simply a safe haven for the bat population, and this is why the scientific community is doubly disappointed. Technology, including infra-red sensors and a specially installed telephone line for data download, was intended to provide scientists with crucial data about the movements and behaviour of the protected species. The bats obviously have other ideas, spurning the house in favour of other roosting and breeding locations.

The diminutive Lesser Horseshoe Bat is a protected species under EU law. Present in the south-west of England and throughout Wales, the bat is found in the six western counties of Ireland – Clare, Cork, Galway, Kerry, Limerick and Mayo. Habitat disruption and renovation of favoured roosting spots, such as outhouses, stables and old houses, have seen a decline in numbers in recent decades. Undisturbed sites for winter hibernation are also important, but under threat. The Irish population currently stands at an estimated 9,500 bats, according to Bat Conservation Ireland, a charity concerned with the conservation of Ireland’s bats.

As is the case with all major UK infrastructure projects, the company contracted to build the Ennis by-pass (GAMA Construction), was required carry out detailed surveys of all the plant and animal species on the route. Protected species, among them the Lesser Horseshoe, require special measures. In this case, the construction of a bespoke bat-house, which conservationists believed would lessen the impact of the road on the bats. Sadly, environmental consultant Howard Williams of Inis Environmental Services, has found no proof that this is the case. Commissioned to assess the effectiveness of the mitigation, he confirmed in his recent report that there had been no sign of bats over the last year, both inside and outside the structure.

Mr Williams believed the site had great potential:

In short, the information we will be able to analyse at this location will give us the best opportunity ever of understanding the lesser Horseshoe Bat in Ireland.

He had, however, not given up hope that the bats would eventually move in to their luxury lodging. Work is nearing completion on a stretch of hedging which will connect the bat house with another known roosting location:

More bats will be searching out foraging areas and will inevitably find the Old Schoolhouse and more importantly, the New Build Bat House.

Many people will be unaware that the August Bank Holiday weekend is also European Bat Weekend 2007! Let’s hope the bats realise the occasion, and deem it a suitable moving in date…

Stanfords’ flagship store in Covent Garden is a delightful place to while away an afternoon, and claims to offer the world’s largest stock of maps and travel books under one roof. Natural, then, that staff should catch the travel bug and want to indulge their Wanderlust by taking foreign trips. It’s a simple idea to reward workers who make that journey in a sustainable way by providing additional annual leave, but one which is effective.

Justin Francis, co-founder of www.responsibletravel.com, spells out the stark realities of our penchant for jet-setting:

The simple fact is that aviation is the fastest growing cause of global warming. The amount of carbon dioxide emitted by air travel doubled between 1990 and 2004. That is totally incompatible with the need to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2050.

Yet with falling air fares, and even recent deals which saw budget operators paying taxes on behalf of customers, it has never been easier or more tempting to jet off to Europe for a short break. Sir Michael Bishop, Chairman of airline BMI, said:

“Today, air travel is a natural part of the daily lives of millions of people,” adding that “in 1986, only 75 million people travelled through Britain’s airports. Last year, more than three times that number did so. It is a simple example of the benefits of choice and competition.

And while cost is no longer a real constraint on short-haul, instead it is time which is at a premium, which further discourages the public from taking greener, but slower forms of transport to reach their destination. This is what makes the Stanfords initiative so clever. Rather than jumping on the carbon-offsetting bandwagon, Stanfords are encouraging employees to think about their impact on the environment. The company is also, crucially, stumping up the cash to pay for the extra annual leave entitlement, thus facilitating and rewarding the eco-credentials of its staff.

Inaugurated by Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, the plant is capable of producing 250 kilowatts, which boosts the landlocked nation’s electricity generating capacity to 50 megawatts. This seems like small fry compared to a plant like Drax, the UK’s biggest coal-fired power station, which has a huge output capacity of 4,000 megawatts. But Rwanda’s energy needs are also far more modest, and by building in renewable energy sources at an early stage, the country will reduce the need for fossil fuels in the future. As a small country, it’s especially important for Rwanda to avoid over-reliance on more resource-rich nations in order to safeguard long-term energy security and enable development.

“In 2004, we (Rwanda) experienced a major power crisis brought about by the falling of water levels in our water bodies and this was at a time when Rwanda had set the pace of development,” said Kagame. He also felt international co-operation on energy issues was a key priority.

The plant itself is sited at Jali hill in Gasabo District, part of central Rwanda’s Kigali Ngali province. Funding for the project came from both the Rhineland Palatinate, which has been supporting Rwandan projects for a quarter of a century, and Stadtwerke Mainz, a German energy company. Together, they ploughed around 1 million Euros into the project. The remaining 200,000 Euros needed for the plant were provided by Rwanda’s Ministry of Infrastructure.

Currently, more than 80% of Africa’s population does not have a regular electricity supply. With much of the continent lying in the equatorial zone, daylight is limited to about 12 hours per day. A lack of electricity makes simple tasks impossible after dark, with a knock-on effect on efficiency and productivity. It is perhaps only with regard to energy that Africa, after 6pm, remains a dark continent!

Achim Steiner, of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is positive about the future, pointing out that “the continent is rich in renewable resources which can benefit the majority of people within a few years.” However, he does warn that the continent risks being left behind in an increasingly energy-demanding world economy. Access to computers and the internet could be a key factor in Africa’s development, and corporations are queueing up to design and donate “the one hundred dollar laptop”. But without electricity, such initiatives become unsustainable gimmicks.

Yet there is little reason why Africa should lag behind the rest of the world when it comes to energy. Endowed with limitless sunshine, vast lakes and rivers, the continent could be a showcase for renewable energy generation. Rwanda’s solar power plant is hopefully the first in a long line of initiatives which harness Africa’s natural riches for the benefit of her own people.

The panel, made up of the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, Steve Jones – a professor of genetics at UCL, and Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society, tackled the issues surrounding “alternative medicine” head on. They dismissed many of the treatments touted by homeopaths, considering them on a par with astrological readings and water-divination.

The outburst comes only a few days after the publication of a letter, written by medical professionals describing themselves as “a group of physicians and scientists who are concerned about ways in which unproven or disproved treatments are being encouraged for general use in the NHS.” The open letter asks almost 500 acute and primary care trusts to review their practices with regard to the promotion of homeopathy, and the use of complementary and alternative medicine as a component of healthcare provision. Hillingdon Primary Care Trust spends a not atypical £60,000 annually on homeopathy, and the authors of the letter believe this money would be much better spent on mainstream scientific treatment.

Dawkins’ views, in particular, seem to be in line with the letter. He believes the public is best served by treatments that are based on solid, scientific evidence. Well-known for his atheism, Dawkins compared the belief in ineffective complementary medicines with a belief in God. The suggestion was also made by the panel that our dwindling interest and participation in organised religion was opening the door for ever wackier, fringe faiths and belief systems. Asked what he felt homeopaths and other “quacks” would do if they were no longer allowed to practice “alternative” medicine, Dawkins retorted that he couldn’t care less. The trio are certainly not alone in their views, and concern in the scientific community seems to be growing about the continuing conflict between belief and evidence in modern society.

Dawkins is the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, and his latest book which he is promoting this week at Hay, is likely to add to his list of enemies in religious circles. “The God Delusion” deals with what Dawkins’ asserts is a wholly irrational belief in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. Though he admits that much of religion is benign, he does argue strongly that religion fuels war, forments bigotry, and abuses children. For Dawkins, belief in God is not just wrong, but potentially deadly. Hundreds of years after the Enlightenment, the Religion vs Science debate seems hotter than ever.

Oceans are major “carbon sinks”, reservoirs of carbon dioxide which remove quantities of the harmful gas from the atmospheres. The Earth’s natural carbon sinks, oceans and plants, absorb around half of all carbon produced by human activity. The Southern Ocean alone accounts for more than 6% of the world’s ocean carbon storing capacity. Since 1981, the ocean’s ability to hold carbon has been reducing and this carbon sink now appears to be reaching capacity, resulting in a higher level of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere.

The findings follow hot on the heels of new evidence that the polar ice caps are breaking up, and revelations last year that Siberia’s immense frozen peat bogs are melting. The one million square kilometre area of permafrost is gradually thawing, releasing huge quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. The accelerated rates of carbon dioxide and methane release are interpreted by some scientists as a worrying indication of the speed of anthropogenic climate change.

The Southern Ocean research team found that increased winds over the ocean had triggered a release of stored carbon dioxide. These winds are a new phenomenon, thought to be a result of the ongoing depletion of the ozone layer in the Antarctic. Strong winds lead to increased turbulence and carbon dissolved in deep water is dredged to the surface, where it is released into the armosphere. If the trend continues, this particular carbon sink will become an increasingly ineffective counterbalance to the huge volumes of greenhouse gases being emitted each year. And as the greenhouse effect intensifies, so will the release of carbon, a negative feedback that could have catastrophic long-term consequences. Dr Corinne Le Quéré of UEA and BAS said:

This is the first time that we’ve been able to say that climate change itself is responsible for the saturation of the Southern Ocean sink.

Our planet is ‘gifted’ with around 8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide annually, thanks to human activities like energy generation and consumption, agriculture and waste disposal. This, surely is an area where the G8 leaders must take the lead. The major produceers of carbon dioxide since the industrial revolution began, the developed world is also responsible for getting emissions under control and encouraging a responsible attitude among emerging economies like China and India. With other studies suggesting that similar processes are occurring in the North Atlantic, now is the time to take action.

As Le Quéré says, serious efforts need to be made to reduce carbon emissions. It’s no good throwing our hands up and accepting that greenhouse gas levels are bound to increase as the world’s population and energy needs grow.

An accomplished all-rounder despite her young years, Tori has previously completed The Scott Dunn Polar Challenge, a punishing 360-mile race to the Magnetic North Pole. She has also taken part in expeditions to Iceland, Morocco, Kenya and Svalbard.

Having grown up in Wales, and still active in the Welsh hills as an accredited assessor for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, a love of mountains is obviously in Tori’s blood. But why was she particularly drawn to Everest, surely the biggest challenge of all? For Tori, it’s all about proving the doubters wrong:

…at barely 5″2, to look at me you would think that “she could never do that”! I thrive on the doubting skepticism that I am given and I want to show people what’s possible…. The opportunity to be both the first Welsh woman and the youngest British female gives me an enormous sense of pride and this is a motivating factor both in my training and on the mountain.

The expedition website, which has charted the progress of Tori and her three team mates, all of whom have achieved success on Everest this May, gives a real insight into the waiting game that characterises all major mountaineering efforts. Bouts of gruelling climbing in rarefied air are interspersed with periods of recuperation and waiting. With an MP3 player in her pack, Tori has passed the time by listening to her favourite Welsh artists. Charlotte Church, Bryn Terfel and the Stereophonics have surely never been heard at such altitude before?

Everest is a fickle mountain, and windows of fair weather and fitness sometimes fail to coincide for even the most accomplished climbers. This makes Tori’s achievements even more astonishing – at 25 she has accomplished a feat which many of us can only dream of. Hundreds have died in their attempt to conquer Everest, and for others it has become an obsession. Good to know, then, that Tori is not losing perspective. She is looking forward to

being able to spend an hour on my hair and make up, put on a pair of tight jeans and a pretty top, grab a pair of heels and head out with my friends for a fun night out.

Reassuring that despite her achievements, when not wielding an ice axe Tori is much like her peers and believes in living life to the full in every possible sense.

Over 100 architects, engineers and creative minds submitted ideas to the Landmark Wales project, and you can see the shortlisted ideas on the project website. Glancing through the designs, I saw what appeared to be little red men, gigantic inverted umbrellas, and a glow-in-the-dark celtic knot. Small wonder that opinion is divided about which design should win, and indeed the huge sums of money involved in the venture as a whole.

There are suspicions that the fire may have been started deliberately. I can’t imagine what would lead anyone to torch a 138-year-old tea clipper, and a key piece of Britain’s maritime heritage. I remember reading the “Last Grain Race” by Eric Newby, which catalogues Newby’s experience as a young man aboard a clipper. Battling strong winds, high seas and difficult conditions, never mind his fellow seamen, the stint aboard seems to have been the making of Newby. Perhaps if this turns out to be an arson committed by a group of “bored” youths, they should be packed off on a sailing ship to the South China Seas! Maybe more effective than more “normal” forms of community service?