2006 in Review

A Happy New Year to one and all! After almost a month off, I'm ready to kick things off for 2007 with some links that look back at the newsworthy stories of the past year:

The Oil Drum's Top Stories of 2006
A diverse collection of 50 stories reflecting the banner year of biofuels (and the debate on the energy balance of ethanol), nuclear renaissance, and more peak oil discussions.

Renewable Energy Access' Top Stories of 2006
A majority of the stories here are solar related, suggesting a tipping point in the solar industry. The next link, on the proliferation of solar company public company listings, are consistent with this theme.

Red Herring's Energy Year in Review: Clean Energy's Big Year
Tile says it all: IPOs, solar, ethanol and electric cars.

Sunshine in the Public Markets: Solar Company IPOs in 2006 (and maybe 2007)
We saw SunPower and Suntech International make their successful U.S. market debuts in the second half of 2005, setting the stage for a banner year of clean energy IPOs in 2006, mostly in the solar and biofuel sectors. In the solar realm, we saw three Chinese solar companies--Canadian Solar (which really has its operations in China), Trina Solar and Solar Fun Power--list their shares on the U.S. in 2006. Another, First Solar (and specialist of thin film solar technologies) also listed. More solar IPO are in the cards, and interestingly, these are also dominated by Chinese concerns, such as Yingli Solar, LDK Solar Hi-Tech and CEEG (Nanjing).

Grist Mill's Top 10 Green Stories
The climate change awakening of various stakeholders (such as corporate America, the electorate/public and government) is the central theme running through most of these stories.

Joel Makower's Top 10 Green Business Stories
Headlined by Walmart's foray into corporate environmentalism.

Discover's Top 6 Environmental Stories of 2006
Extracted from its Top 100 Science Stories, the emergence of alternative energy tops both lists!

Warren Karlenzig's Top 10 Government Sustaibility Programs of 2006
A focus on groundbreaking state and local government environmental programs that made the news.

Springwise's Top 10 Eco & Sustainability Business Ideas of 2006
A focus on the best, innovative small business ideas of the year.