Energy...

You may not have heard of companies like Odersun, CamSemi, Atraverda and Pelikon, but chances are you will in the days to come. These four companies and 96 others were named to The Guardian and Library Houses's CleanTech 100, listing the best European companies involved in clean technology.

The firms run the gamut of green technologies. Some are involved in solar, wind or tidal power. Others are developing efficient power systems for a variety of devices. Some are trying to turn waste into energy. And that's just scratching the surface. 

About half of these companies' products are either in development or beta testing. The rest are already on the market. 

To get on this list, the companies faced a pretty tough selection process. Ranking factors included companies' capital history, positive media stories about them, the size of their management team, and independent analysis to make sure that the technologies the companies were developing was actually credible. (In other words, no vaporware allowed.)

The companies were also asked about their environmental vision, what they saw as the size of the market for their products, and the impact they expected their technology to have on the world. 

Give the list and the accompanying articles a read. They give me hope about the technologies we'll be seeing in the next few years.