2008's top clean tech innovations

One of the most exciting things about the boom in the clean tech sector is the sheer breadth of the research that is going on.

The year demonstrated this excitement throughout, delivering many clean tech breakthroughs that ranged from the ingenious to the potentially world-changing, touching upon a few ideas that were just plain daft along the way.

BusinessGreen.com takes a glance at 10 of the most innovative developments of the past 12 months.

Chevron investigates wood-fired cars

Oil giant launches joint venture with forestry firm Weyerhaeuser to research how timber could one day be used to fill up the tank.

Commuters' body heat to power Stockholm office

Hot Swedish bodies tapped to provide heat for office block near Stockholm train station.

" Power shirt" to generate electricity from wearer's movement

US nanotechnology researchers reveal new energy-generating textile fibres that could power small electrical devices.

Firm touts system for turning sun's heat into cool air

Solitem secures fresh funding and unveils plans to scale up logic-defying solar technology.

UK firm undertakes first manned fuel cell-powered flight

Intelligent Energy and Boeing complete three test flights of fuel cell-powered aircraft, but downplay possibility of zero-carbon airliners.

US firm targets carbon-to-toothpaste technology within two years

Carbon Sciences works on pilot plant designed to turn captured CO2 into calcium carbonates, useful in the manufacture of everything from paper to toothpaste.

Solar power promises BlackBerrys that never need charging

Could solar panels and long-life batteries soon confine mobile phone chargers to history? UK solar specialist G24i certainly thinks so.

" ECO Pedal" pushes back against aggressive drivers

Nissan debuts intelligent accelerator pedal capable of cutting fuel costs and carbon emissions by 10 per cent.

US breakthrough promises solar panels that work in the dark

US Department of Energy research team predicts commercially available products within five to 10 years.

Is the God Machine green?

And because no technology rundown of 2008 would be complete without mention of the CERN particle accelerator, BusinessGreen.com asked if the Large Hadron Collider would deliver clean tech breakthroughs or if it was taking much-needed funding away from more deserving emission-reduction research.