tomo: NG are behind the times!
From various articles on fuel for FCEVs it seems that hydrogen now comes in 3 colours.
Grey - standard industrial from steam reforming of natural gas or as a byproduct from refinery/chemical processes. In CO2 terms this is "full-fat".
Blue - this is the semi-skimmed variety, from reforming biogas, conventional reforming with some carbon capture, etc.
Green - fat-free; by renewable-powered electrolysis

Pretty soon we will have the full rainbow, as often depicted behind the unicorn!!

German Green MP calls for ban on new urban single-family houses
Anton Hofreiter says homes an unsustainable option because they use too much space and energy

A ban on building new single-family houses in popular urban areas has been mooted by a leading German Green MP, who has said they are environmentally unfriendly because they use too much space and energy.

Anton Hofreiter, parliamentary group leader of the environmental party has drawn both praise and criticism for suggesting that houses were an unsustainable option in urban areas.

“Single-family homes consume a large surface area, a lot of construction material and energy and they lead to urban sprawl and therefore generate more traffic,” he told Der Spiegel magazine in an interview.

Hofreiter said at a time when living space in many German towns and cities was increasingly scarce, and rents were soaring, the country needed to radically rethink its residential development policies.

“Local authorities should be ensuring in their development planning in congested urban areas that where there is a lack of space this is used optimally in order to create affordable living areas,” he said. “This is a central, social question particularly in our large cities.”

He also recommended that local authorities should be allowed to appropriate private homes that had been abandoned or whose owners could not be located. In a separate interview, his party colleague Chris Kühn declared: “the time of new build single-family homes is over”.

His remarks follow the recent controversial decision by a Green party district authority leader in the northern city of Hamburg to ban the construction of single-family homes.

Hofreiter has been accused of populism and attempting to restrict Germans’ freedom to choose how they live.

“The Greens have once again surpassed themselves with this populist and sanctimonious attitude,” Sören Bartol, of the left-of-centre Social Democrats said.

Christian Hirte of the Christian Democratic Union said Hofreiter’s remarks were “typical for the Greens’ disturbed relationship towards property and the reality of life in rural areas”. His colleague Christian Baldauf, the CDU’s lead candidate in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, said Germans who wanted to build their own homes should not be dictated to. “This is an example of an anti-family, ideological policy.”

Daniel Föst of the pro-business FDP accused the Greens of “wanting to put people off the dream of owning their own home”.

The increase in inhabitants in towns and cities in Germany over the past few years together with low interest rates has caused house prices and rents to rise far quicker than incomes, creating a squeeze on living space.

But Lars Feld, one of Germany’s leading economists warned that a ban on family homes was not the answer to the problem, and would likely lead to more social inequality.

“People who already live in houses, would profit because their value would likely rise considerably,” he told Der Spiegel. “That would likely lead to a decrease in the proportion of people who own their own properties, which is anyway very low in Germany compared to the rest of the world, because people would be forced to rent. And this would lead to greater wealth inequality”.

In Germany only about 45% of the population own their own property, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), compared with about 65% in the UK. .

The Green party is predicted to secure a strong result in this autumn’s federal election, which could see it back in government for the first time since 2005.

British Gas to bump up energy bills by £97 a year for millions
Move expected to hit 2.3 million customers who use standard gas and electricity tariff

No attempt to explain the size of "green" subsidies on every household's bill. For real information on that, one has to go away from the MSM to someone who does the sums:

Homeowners Fleeced By Renewable Subsidies

Mexico was once a climate leader – now it's betting big on coal
As the climate crisis worsens, Andrés Manuel López Obrador plans to buy nearly 2m tons of thermal coal from small producers

The men on the midnight shift smoked cigarettes and cracked jokes in the glow of their helmet lights as they prepared to go underground. They were loading safety equipment and coils of pipe on to wheelbarrows, in readiness for a second shift due to start working later that week.

“We’re reactivating the industry,” said Arturo Rivera Wong, who had just taken on 40 more workers at the mine he owns in the scrublands of the border state of Coahuila.

“Four furnaces at the big thermoelectric plant are going to be reactivated,” he explained. “This is going to kickstart coal sales.”

As the climate crisis worsens and clean energy prices plunge, governments around the world have been weaning their economies of coal and other fossil fuels.

Mexico is moving in the opposite direction.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, popularly known as Amlo, has unveiled plans to buy nearly 2m tons of thermal coal from small producers like Rivera. He also plans to reactivate a pair of coal-fired plants on the Texas border, which were being wound down as natural gas and renewables took a more prominent role in Mexico’s energy mix.

Not only is López Obradorbetting big on fossil fuels, he is also curtailing clean energy.

The populist president has promoted a vision of energy sovereignty, in which state-run bodies – the oil company Pemex and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) – pump petroleum and generate electricity. Private players, which have heavily invested in clean energy, are relegated to a secondary role in López Obrador’s vision – while emissions and climate commitments are an afterthought....

The Guardian view on Germany's Greens: opportunity knocks
Editorial
Election year could deliver the best result in the party’s 40-year history, and send a message on climate targets from Europe’s most powerful state

Nordstream2? Lignite power stations?

The Guardian's Australian climate/politics obsession continued:

Barnaby Joyce pushes clean energy finance amendment to allow coal investment
Former Nationals leader announces he will try to amend his own government’s legislation

and

TUC calls on Raab to reject Australian candidate to lead OECD
Trade union body says Mathias Cormann would set back fight against poverty and the climate crisis

The life-altering effects heat is having on American children
Global heating takes a disproportionate toll on Black and Latino children – and the danger begins before they are even born

...The analysis of dozens of medical studies found women of color, particularly Black women, and their babies are most likely to suffer low birth weights, pre-term births and stillbirths from climate-driven threats. Hot temperatures can cause strain upon women and their unborn children, while heat can also react with pollutants from cars and power plants to create ozone, a ground-level pollutant that can cause an array of health problems.

“This pollution cause placental inflammation and affects the baby,” said Pacheco. “This can cause impacts in childhood but also bad outcomes when they are adults, such as heart and kidney disease. Even what we would consider limited exposures can affect the development of the baby.”

The climate crisis is shaping the lives of Black children and children of color before they take their first breath, but it doesn’t stop there. Once a Black or Latino child is born, there is a good chance they will live in a neighborhood that gets even hotter than nearby, whiter suburbs. Researchers have found that in US cities including New York, Dallas and Miami, poorer areas with more residents of color can be get up to 20F hotter in summer than wealthier, whiter districts in the same city....

I wonder how that's going down in Texas right now?

Energy pact divides EU as Spain threatens walkout
Governments fear lawsuits for going green.

EU countries are split over plans for a revamp of an international energy treaty, which some fear could lead to lawsuits for switching from coal to green power.

The Energy Charter Treaty, dating back to 1994, is supposed to boost cross-border energy cooperation and includes an investment protection provision that's aimed at safeguarding companies from arbitrary political decisions. That may have made sense in the early 1990s as a way to lure investors to ex-communist countries, but it now raises the danger of governments being sued for decisions to slash emissions that affect investments in projects like coal-fired power plants.

The European Commission is trying to renegotiate the pact to make it fit better with today's priorities. It put forward its negotiating position on Monday and talks on reforming the treaty take place on March 2-5.

But there are deep divisions within the EU over the treaty, with some countries, along with the Commission, allowing for a long period of talks among the 55-member grouping of treaty members, while others are threatening to walk out if it's not revamped before the end of the year.

Spain could quit the treaty if it can't be brought quickly into line with the EU's green ambitions, Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribera told POLITICO.

Ribera, along with two other Spanish ministers, sent a letter to the European Commission last week, asking it to draw up plans to withdraw from the treaty. She warned that Madrid could pull out alone if other countries don't want to join. “We are not very optimistic on the possibilities to get a successful result from the coming rounds of negotiation,” Ribera said.

A recent draft of the Commission's position, obtained by POLITICO, showed Brussels wants to maintain the treaty's protections for new investments in natural gas power infrastructure for 10 years, or — if negotiations drag on for the rest of the decade — until 2040....

More global warming in action:

In pictures: Greece's Acropolis blanketed in snow

Unusually heavy snowfall in parts of Greece has blanketed ancient monuments, disrupted transport and halted some coronavirus vaccinations.

Temperatures as low as -19C (-2.2F) have been recorded in the north-western city of Florina.

At least three deaths have been blamed on the freezing conditions and extra supplies have been sent to refugee camps hit by low temperatures.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged people to stay at home.

"Our big concern is the electricity grid," the prime minister said after an emergency cabinet meeting. "We need patience to resolve this problem which is truly exceptional."

Police said there had been almost 250 calls for help from people trapped in cars and homes, according to Reuters.

Covid-19 vaccinations were postponed in the capital, Athens, where roads were closed and public transport disrupted by the storm.

Ferry travel has also been interrupted by the wintery weather conditions and high winds....