MIT's Technology Review (free registration required) just published its list of young innovators under 35, those scientists who the editors say have the most exciting inventions and research. "Their work -- spanning medicine, computing, communications, electronics, nanotechnology and more -- is changing our world," the Technology Review says.

Here's the list of scientist who gave me hope that we can innovate our way out of the global warming mess. I can't say that I always understood what they were trying to do, but I trust those smart folks at MIT ...

Dave Berry -- Renewable Petroleum from microbes. If Vinod Khosla thinks it is worth investing money in, I'd bet on it too.

"Since receiving his bachelor's degree from MIT in 2000, Berry has helped develop a way to treat stroke, thought up a new approach to cancer therapy, and, most recently, created a system to genetically engineer microbes to produce biofuels. He has 21 patent applications pending, and his intellectual curiosity touches on therapeutic medicine, diagnostic devices, and now, most notably, alternative energy technologies. His innovations in energy form the conceptual basis of LS9, a California-based renewable-petroleum company that has received $5 million in venture funding from Flagship and Khosla Ventures in California (see "Better Biofuels," July/August 2007)."

Javier García-Martínez -- New zeolites for cracking petroleum. This one really stretches my brain cells, but I think the editors are suggesting that García-Martínez's work will make refining petroleum more efficient. And efficiency when it comes to fuel can only be a good thing, nu?

"Increasing the pore size of the zeolites would allow a larger fraction of crude oil to be converted into useful products. Companies have spent three decades and millions of dollars trying to increase pore size, without much success." 

Rachel Segalman -- Cheap electricity from heat. Wasted energy is bad no matter how you look at it. And if Segalman can get my laptop and I across the country on one battery charge, well, I'd love her forever! 

"Most of the energy in fuels is wasted as heat. But much of that heat could be converted to electricity by "thermoelectric" materials--if they were cheaper and more efficient. Now Rachel Segalman, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, has discovered that cheap organic molecules can be used to generate electricity from heat. So far, the voltage produced is small, but Segalman and colleagues are modifying the molecules and inventing new devices to harness them. Such devices could harvest heat in, say, computers, to extend laptop battery life."

Xudong Wang -- Powering the nanoworld. This is another brain stretcher, but it seems like a brilliant idea (once you get past concerns regarding nanotechnology.)

When Xudong Wang finished his PhD in materials science at Georgia Tech at the end of 2005, he knew he had a good thing going. He opted to stay put in the lab of Zhong Lin Wang (no relation), sure that he and his lab mates were close to creating a new ­nanotech-based generator--an invention they felt could change the future of nanotechnology. His risk paid off earlier this year when Science published a paper he coauthored, describing a novel device that converts ultrasonic waves--high-frequency mechanical vibrations--into electricity. The tiny device turns out a steady 0.5 nanoamperes of current that engineers may one day be able use to power implantable biosensors, remote environmental moni­tors, and more. "It's a very cool concept," says Peidong Yang, a nanowire researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. "Vibrational energy is everywhere." If Wang's devices can harness it cheaply, "the impact could be big," Yang says."

Neil Renninger -- Hacking microbes for energy. The Gates Foundation thinks this guy is onto something. Another voice I'm willing to trust when it comes to innovation.

He began by identifying molecules that would work well as fuels and were compatible with existing engines and delivery infrastructures; then he found a way to combine biological and chemical processes to manufacture them. So far, ­Amyris has created microbes that can produce candidate replacements for biodiesel, jet fuel, and gasoline. "Now we need to tinker with the bug to squeeze out the last bit of metabolic flux that turns something from interesting to cheap enough to burn," he says.

That's a lot of hope to garner from one magazine. And multiply these individuals by the tens of thousands (or more) scientists working on these problems and you do begin to think we can smart our way out of our messes.