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The architect that put the windmill on Cameron's Notting Hill pad is proposing an idea to build artificial islands in the tropics to harness the natural energy that exists in those latitudes to produce electricity.  For a while now I've been interested in something similar, but subtly different - the idea that if we could harness just a tiny proportion of the solar energy that reaches the earth we could solve all our energy needs.

From a distance it looks like an island paradise, but get closer and those tall structures that could be palm trees turn out to be wind turbines - and the surf laps against wave barrages instead of sandy beaches. Welcome to "Energy Island", a vision of how humans could help meet our future needs for energy, food and water using the power of nature in the tropics.

Alex Michaelis, the architect who gave David Cameron's west London home a green makeover - complete with miniature wind turbine, solar panels and water recycling system - will launch the concept this year with a bid for funding worth $25m (£12.6m) from Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Earth Prize.

His proposal, which is dramatically more ambitious than the work he did on the Conservative leader's semi-detached house, is to build archipelagos of artificial islands that will produce electricity, clean water and even food in the belt of warm water that passes from the Caribbean across to the south China Sea, the Indian Ocean and west Africa.

When I suggested using giant solar power stations to produce electricity in the Sahara the most common objection was the transmission losses that would incur transporting that power to where it was needed.  So I developed my idea a bit.  My solar power stations would not produce electricity, but take sea water and turn it into hydrogen for fuel cells.  This hydrogen would be the thing that was transported to power hungry parts of the world, probably by ships themselves powered by fuel cells, and there used in its raw form for motor engines, but also turned into electricity for the grid closer to its destination and so with less transmission loss.

Maybe I should apply for the Branson money? 

Oxford is a fantastic place! I've been here fourteen years now with one short gap, by far the longest I have settled in a place in my life. It long ago became home, physically and spiritually, and for a while I more or less gave my life to it when I was previously a city councillor from 1999 till 2002 (it seemed longer than that, I can tell you!).

We have one of the most beautiful city centres in the world. Our two universities are world leading centres of learning and research. The streets have seen poets, artists and kings, statesmen and women, warriors and world beating sportsmen and women, visionary scientists and engineers pass through. Surely more than any place on earth for its size so many people retain their links to the city with pride and heartfelt warmth through their schools, colleges and universities.

One can walk down the High Street and see a cavalcade of a foreign president come to speak, or even to be lectured to, yet rarely can you venture into town without bumping into someone you know. The buildings of centuries gone by have witnessed all this and more in their time yet stand as beacons of consistency and stability for us and future generations.

We can find the best bands in the country in the Zodiac, enjoy a pleasant concert or recital in our chapels and music rooms, hang out with troubadours, minstrels and wordsmiths at Catweazle, take in some of the best museum and gallery collections in the world, wander round and in a dreamworld of discovery in Art Weeks. We can follow in the footsteps of Harry Potter or peer into Mr Lewis's wardrobe; drink in the pubs that gave birth to Mr Tolkien's hobbits and wraiths. In one short stretch of road we can eat food from China, Japan, Thailand, India, Lebanon, Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Britain, Spain, Portugal, the West Indies and more.

Nor should we ignore the city's hinterland. Next to the history of Woodstock, Wantage or Islip with their royal courts, palaces and manors, alongside the rolling green hills approaching the Cotswolds and the Chilterns, we have the world's leaders in those most modern of technologies, motorsport and biotechnology.

In two words - Oxford rocks! This city punches so far above its weight, in so many areas it is literally the centre of the world!

Yet that's not the whole story. Outside the city centre, but inside the rural idyll preserved by our green belt there are some remarkably deprived areas. Industry has grown up, employing hundreds of thousands of people in its time, and waned again. And whilst we don't have any real unemployment to speak of, we do have estates that are run down, with people unable to reach their full potential and play a full part in the life of this fantastic city.

And whatever Oxford's pride of place on the planet, one thing is certain - she cannot reach her full potential as a city, as a society, unless every last citizen, temporary or permanent, young or old, wealthy or not, from whatever corner of the planet they originate or have their roots, reaches their potential. And there is considerable work to do.

Coming next, the challenges ahead...

The very observant amongst you will have noticed, I hope, that I've been very quiet for a couple of weeks.  Well, since this marks the anniversary of this Drupal version of my blog, I decided to give it a make-over.  Partly this was prompted by having been nominated in summer for the best designed Lib Dem blog, because the previous "look and feel" was not terribly technically tinkered with standard Drupal theme.  So I wanted to have a play and see what I could achieve "under the bonnet" of Drupal.

So, I've reached the point where I'm into that last 20% of any project that will take 80% of the effort, so I figured I might as well "go live" on the new theme and continue to tinker in the background.  So, things will change a little over the coming days and weeks as I spot things I don't like, but please let me know if there's something not working, or not working as expected.

...shame I'm not waking up to this today:

Lots of things to catch up on over the next few days: my feelings about the new leader and his new team, not least.

You'll notice that the whole idea of static "blogroll" type lists has apparently gone.  All of you to whom I linked are still linked, I just need to go through the various links and tag them with categories and they will then show up in the "related links" slot when you view relevant content on my site.

You'll get the hang of it, I hope!