When he moves in next month, the MP for Nottingham South will not have to pay monthly electricity bills, but will receive cash back. "The house is so efficient it feeds into the national grid," he said."Everyone is going to have to reduce their carbon footprint on the planet. I am hoping that my house will be part of a new approach to living."The real challenge would be to take what is happening in my home and make other affordable houses like it - and then the development of sustainable energy systems for whole cities."The small industrial building, in Nottingham's historic Lace Market, was derelict when the MP for Nottingham South spotted it. Its only inhabitants for the past 40 years had been hundreds of pigeons. After months of adaptation, the Victorian mill has been transformed.Its in-built ventilation is based on a Babylonian cooling system developed 4,000 years ago.

And in a nod to the wattle and daub insulation methods of bygone days, the walls are lined with straw. Low-flush lavatories were imported from Italy, while hi-tech windows let ultra-violet light in but not out.A "grey water" recycling unit ensures that no water is wasted, but cleans, stores and reuses it. Clothes will be washed in an energy-efficient washing machine with the contents of baths, gutters and showers. Even the washing-up water will be recycled while the potato peelings will be composted. The self-generating power shower requires no electricity at all.The stair treads are recycled from old wood, the floor matting is composed of recycled materials, and glass panels on each floor mean that artificial light is needed only after dark. A wind turbine onthe side of the house will generate power while the solar-panelled roof constantly absorbs energy from the sun.This week the finishing touches will be put to the tubular cardboard walls.

But many of the lace mill's original features, including the Victorian brickwork and wood floors, have been retained during the conversion.The Nottingham architect Julian Marsh, who designed the eco-residence in consultation with Mr Simpson, said the aim was to integrate "green technology and modern design"."We have tried to reuse timber, we have reused all the brickwork and slates and we have worked with the shape of the existing building to create a clean, modern interior," he said.. The deep ocean is one of the world's last great wildernesses But not for long. Two kilometres below the surface, scores of rare and exotic species are being wiped out at a dramatic rate. These unique species include the goblin shark which boasts a unicorn-like horn, prickly sharks with humped backs and glowing eyes, vast single-celled organisms as large as footballs and tripod fish that stand on their fins. In a letter passed to The Independent on Sunday, Britain's leading marine scientists have warned these species face extinction because of the global growth in deep-sea trawlers fishing for edible species such as the orange roughy, hoki and round-nosed grenadier.The damage is indiscriminate, they warned. The vast nets, which can reach down for 2km, pull up thousands of tonnes of fish each year, but most are thrown back into the sea, dead.Held down by rows of steel rollers weighing up to 200kg each, those nets are meanwhile devastating the ancient coral beds and sea mounts which are the home to the deep sea's marine life by scraping the sea bed clean Some corals, such as the seafan, can be 1,000 years old.