Good Oil: Birds flock to Rolls

There is all sorts of bird life in the 22,500 sq m roof of the Rolls-Royce assembly plant in Britain. But it's not a random invasion from the sky - the roof is a mix of grass and plants designed to attract birds. The company says it is so effective that it is difficult to detect where the boundaries lie between the roof and its surrounding environment. A lake at the main entrance to the factory is a key part of the water-management system and also attracts a wide variety of aquatic birds.

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Hyundai, an official sponsor of soccer's World Cup, has been using 32 hydrogen-powered buses and two Tucson four-wheel-drives to transport teams and officials around the tournament's 12 host cities in Germany.

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Canada, already the US' number one source of imported oil, is planning to expand production of oil from giant tar-like deposits called "oil sands". Daily production from oil sands is expected to quadruple to 4 million barrels by 2020, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. About 175 billion barrels of oil lie buried in the hills of western Alberta, ranking Canada behind only Saudi Arabia in proven reserves. But the ambitious venture still faces tough hurdles. Chief among them: finding about 30,000 welders, electricians and pipe-fitters willing to work in a remote corner of Canada to help turn oil sands into fuel.

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Talk about a monopoly: the Volkswagen group has a 99 per cent share of the car market in its hometown of Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen-badged cars hold 95.86 per cent, Audi 2.28 per cent, Skoda 0.66 per cent, and Seat 0.21 per cent. That adds up to 99.01 per cent. Just 0.99 per cent of Wolfburg's motorists drive rival models.

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Worldwide sales of General Motors' four-wheel-drive Hummer - civvy street's version of the US military's Humvee - have doubled over the past two years, despite the hike in fuel prices. Sales totalled 31,000 in 2004 and 61,000 in 2005. Much of the growth was led by the new H3 model in the US, although numbers were up in Europe, Mexico, Canada and the Middle East. Production of right-hand-drive variants of the H3 will begin next year in South Africa. Yes, they are expected to be available in New Zealand.

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British researchers at the University of Birmingham say they have powered a fuel cell by feeding chocolate waste to the E.coli (escherichia coli) bacteria, which converted the sugar into hydrogen. E.coli causes food poisoning in humans. The researchers also expect the bacteria to produce precious metals from discarded catalytic converters, used in vehicle exhaust systems.