Top 5 'Good News for Green' Stories of '09

With a new year and a new decade, comes a myriad of retrospectives on the year just passed. Sometimes these retrospectives can be overwhelmingly depressing as we remember those who have passed on, difficult to swallow news stories, or worse still, repetitive bad news about the environment. But what about all those great stories out there? The stories of invention and innovation?

We decided to honor this year's Top 5 most positive green stories to remind ourselves that there's some great stuff happening out there, and hopefully with 2010, there will be even better things to come.

1. One Day You Might Have a Pretty Cool Utility Company: What if your utility company Tweeted you updates about your energy consumption on a daily basis? That's exactly what's happening in Germany with the Yello Strom utility company. Yello Strom was also the first European company to offer its customers access to Google's energy management tool PowerMeter, basically unifying a home's utilities with its broadband connection. Knowledge is definitely power in this case, pun intended. The idea is that when a consumer has that much consumption information, they are likely to consume less. To get the full low-down on the Yello Strom technology, check out the original press release.
2. Car Innovation to Come: 2009 may very well have been the beginning of the end of the car industry as we know it. Billions of dollars of stimulus money has now been dedicated specifically to developing innovative and energy efficient cars. While Ford, Daimler, and more are busy partnering with energy companies to make electric a standard instead of an exception; 2010 will see some pretty cool models hitting the market. Nissan claims they will give away charging stations to a limited number of new owners of the zero emission Leaf which also comes with its own iPhone app to help you keep track of the car's performance and consumption. And don't forget our friend bio-diesel. Last year scientists created the first race car to run on chocolate--yes, chocolate. Willy Wonka would be proud!
3. Cheap Real Estate Makes for a Whole Lotta Conservation: As real estate prices plunged in hot markets like California, conservation groups found they were finally able to afford to buy up some land for the public to enjoy. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported, large parcels of land were secured along the Sonoma Coast, and in the Sierra Meadows to name a few. 
4. A Zero Carbon City is Possible: Despite its own financial crisis this year, Abu Dhabi continues to build its zero carbon city, Masdar. The 50,000 person city will be used for research in renewable energy technology and water conservation. While the creation of Masdar seems far fetched for the average Joe--or the average government for that matter--it is still an inspiring notion. And when you watch guys like Ed Begely Jr. go off the grid in conspicuous consumption cities like Los Angeles, it all seems easier than you might think.
5. Personal Consumption Matters Most: Finally, last year a group of Princeton researchers deduced it is individuals that make all the difference in the battle to save the environment. For every country there's a group of high emitters, typically upper middle class, who are creating a very large carbon footprint indeed. The suggested plan targets these "high emitters" and suggests setting goals for this privileged group to reduce their energy consumption throughout the world.To read more about the Princeton study, check out the take on The Daily Green.

Any stories we missed? Or any great green news already uncovered for 2010? Leave us a comment and let us know. And don't forget to check out our weekly green deal list to save some "green" on a variety of eco-friendly stores and products.