Wired Magazine has come up with a list of what it thinks were the top ten green-technology breakthroughs of last year. The list includes advances in solar power from companies such as BrightSource, Ausra, and Nanosolar; actual pilot projects involving Shai Agassi’s Better Place replaceable electric car battery idea; and a demonstration site for making cement from CO2 left over from power generation. Perhaps just as significant but less acknowledged (number four on Wired’s list) is the selection of Steven Chu, a Nobel-prize winning physicist (detailed autobiography here), to head the Department of Energy. While at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, Chu was focused on alternative-energy. In addition, he often speaks candidly about the dangers of climate change.

Having such an advocate for clean technology in the White House is especially important given that the world economy has fallen into recession and the price of oil has dropped, if only for the short-term. When energy prices drop, investments in alternative or clean technology aren’t as attractive. In the absence of other incentives, development, research, and production of new technology will slow dramatically. There was an oil shock in the 1970′s that forced us to move to smaller, more efficient cars and opened the door to innovation. Yet we ended up with a return to cheap gas and a love affair with SUVs. Let’s hope Secretary Chu can help us avoid falling into the same pattern this time around.

- Justin Manger