You’re going to get a lot of these year-in-review posts over the next two weeks until the Snooki-filled ball drops, closing out 2010. Since influencers are what makes the greentech industry world go round, we thought we’d bring you the 10 individuals we think had the biggest effect on the greentech sector this year. Some are obvious, and some may be surprising, but here’s who we thought changed the landscape for better or for worse:

1. DOE Secretary Steven Chu. An obvious one, but Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu had arguably the biggest influence on the greentech sector in 2010. The DOE has funneled billions from the stimulus package into greentech sectors across the smart grid, green cars, energy efficiency, carbon capture and sequestration, and clean power. As a scientist he “gets” the issues, and also is on the cutting edge calling for open research and collaboration. I’m clearly a fan.

Year-end lists inevitably leave room for debate and criticism, and ours is no exception. It was an eventful year, and we relied on voting among Scientific American editors to cull our candidates. Any of these notable achievements were certainly worthy but didn't make the final cut. The runners-up were:

• The discovery in South Africa of a new hominid, called Australopithecus sediba, that could be a lost member of our family tree 

• The emergence of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," a controversial way to recover natural gas trapped in deep rocks

It won't get the same press as the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but the U.S. made an important conservation leap this week by banning the deadly practice of shark finning.

The Shark Conservation Act, passed Tuesday, bans the controversial yet lucrative fishing practice of catching sharks, cutting off their fins and dumping the still-living creatures back into the water where they slowly and painfully drown.

Shark fins are highly prized for their use in shark fin soup. Many shark populations around the world have dropped 90 percent or more as a result of rampant overfishing.

We’ve written before about how software that makes buildings more energy-efficient will become an appealing sector in smart buildings. Well, smart buildings will need smart lighting. And so 2011 will be a year in which lighting systems — especially ones using light-emitting diodes, or LEDs — will be on the rise.

Networked lighting’s pitch is energy efficiency, a green strategy that promises return on investment, which is a must when selling to commercial entities. (That’s why, for example, electric vehicles been rolled out sooner and caught on faster among business buyers than consumers.) The basic premise of these lighting systems is that buildings and warehouses can save money by programming lights to automatically dim or shut off based on when the building is in use, as well as other factors, like the amount of sunlight streaming through windows.

Entrepreneurs hear that VC pitches ought to be short, 10-20 slides. What most don’t know is that there is no way they can deliver a presentation that short by just “writing” the slide deck.

An entrepreneur I’ve known for a long time came by my ranch over Thanksgiving break to show me the first pass of his new startup slide deck.

My eyes were glazed by slide 9.

It was over 35 slides long, with each slide feeling like it had 12 lines of 10-point type. It had a problem statement going back to the invention of the telephone, an opportunity claiming to exceed the Gross National Product and it had every possible product feature with enough left over for three other startups products.

My first reaction was, “you got to be kidding.” Yet I was hearing the pitch from an experienced entrepreneur with multiple wins under his belt. He had raised money from name-brand VC’s in past startups and knew what a fundable VC slide deck looked like. What was going on?

The repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the ratification of a brand-new START treaty represent milestone achievements for the suddenly prolific lame duck Congress, and the press has covered these developments accordingly. But Congress passed another law amid this flurry of activity—the America COMPETES Act—and although the media didn’t cover this move nearly as vigorously, it is potentially quite significant and praiseworthy in its own right.

America COMPETES authorizes continued growth in the budgets of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the laboratories of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation, 3 agencies focused on incubating and generating innovations designed to keep our country at the forefront of an increasingly competitive global economy.

Beyond this, in what many hope will become a bona fide turning point in the effort to leverage American ingenuity and innovation, America COMPETES empowers all federal agencies to sponsor prize competitions to spur innovation, solve particularly vexing problems in their domains, and advance their missions.

Since Edison’s day, we have been generating electricity in basically the same way: by using massive, centralized power plants.

Along the way, utilities have become enormous entities with thousands of employees and billions of dollars in revenue. Many of them are public companies that pay generous and reliable dividends, making them a favorite investment for grandmothers everywhere.

But the model now faces two distinct challenges. First, a majority of scientists, policy leaders, the public and business executives and others have come to the conclusion that greenhouse gases need to be reduced.

Tis the holiday season, when Santa’s workshop hums with elfin activity. But what about America’s workshop?

We have come to expect that the lion’s share of the toys under our Christmas trees will say made-in-China. But is it also inevitable that in a globalized economy, the United States should cede its place as a leading manufacturer? We think not. Our nation’s manufacturing base not only provides jobs, wages, and economic security for the middle class but also drives the process of economic innovation that is essential for our overall competitiveness. Manufacturing truly is the gift that keeps on giving, through new ideas about how to make things better, resulting in new jobs and new companies that can compete ever more effectively in global markets.

Slate has produced a sobering time lapse animation showing the inexorable spread of diabetes across America.

The rise in diabetes is, of course, linked to the rising rates of obesity across America. But what's truly stunning is just how prevalent the disease has become, and how meteoric the growth rates are. Here's what the country looks like on a county-by-county basis in 2004. The darker the color, the higher the incidence of diabetes:

Most people in Ohio’s biomedical industry would’ve considered 2010 a good year if just one key thing happened — voters renewed the state’s $1.35 billion, 10-year Third Frontier program, which is designed to energize Ohio’s economy by investing in cutting-edge technology.

It happened. And elation ensued in board rooms, investors’ offices and research laboratories.

By a nearly two-to-one margin, voters approved Third Frontier with a $700 million, four-year extension that’ll keep it alive until at least 2016 — and beyond, the industry no doubt prays. From CEOs to scientists to venture capitalists, nearly everyone in the industry will tell you that Third Frontier has been absolutely critical to the success of Ohio’s growing biomedical industry, which now boasts more than 1,600 organizations with a combined payroll of nearly $4 billion, according to BioOhio.

The technology world is well-known for its hype and hyperbole, not to mention more than a little vaporware. And, as part of the industry for more than a quarter century, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s more of a skeptic than I am.

A lot of stuff hasn’t lived up to the hype, and there’s sure to be plenty more:

* Virtual reality, for one thing, comes to mind.
* I won’t be surprised if home 3D falls flat, as well, at least until we can chuck the glasses. Yes, I’ve seen demos of 3D technology without the glasses. It’s coming … eventually.
* Come to think of it, I don’t really get electric cars, either. I mean, why pay more for a car you have to plug in when you can get a hybrid?

When we think of innovation, we tend to associate it with forward motion. We may envision it as a leap ahead—a radical breakthrough that happens quickly—or, more realistically, as a steady march forward, during which a series of small advances and refinements eventually lead to a desired outcome.

But in observing a number of leading designers and innovators over the past couple of years (including individuals such as Yves Behar, Bruce Mau, and Dean Kamen, and firms such as IDEO and Smart Design), what has struck me is how often these change-makers seem to be moving sideways and even backwards, in addition to moving forward. In my own head, I’ve started to think of this as a kind of “catalyst’s dance”—with the most common version of it being a nifty (and quite difficult) four-step.

The European Union adopted the Small Business Act in 2008, with the intention of making it easier to start and run a business. Two years on, the EurActiv network takes a look at the achievements and challenges ahead.

Starting her own online art gallery in London this year took Gina Cross about a week and cost £70 (€82), about the average for entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom.

Likewise, in Bulgaria, France and Ireland, registering a new business costs less than €100 and takes less than a week.

"It’s quite easy," said Cross, founder of A Little Bit of Art, a small company which sells printed artworks.

But in Poland and Spain, entrepreneurs still wait about a month for their initial paperwork to be approved. In Italy, Luxembourg, Greece and the Netherlands, the process is faster but expensive – more than €1,000.

As 2010 comes to a close, Michigan has gotten some great news for our economy and the strength of technical innovation in our state.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced Dec. 16 that Detroit would be home to the first-ever satellite office of the U.S. Trade and Patent Office, the government agency that grants the patents and trademarks that give legal protection to the innovations that help make our economy grow.

This decision will bring more than 100 high-skill jobs to our state in the first year and it will help Michigan businesses and innovators get their new ideas and products to market more quickly.

We are delighted to officially announce the winners of the 2010 Small Business Book Awards, Reader’s Choice edition, here at Small Business Trends.

About the Awards

This year — our 3rd year — the Awards were more exciting than ever, with outstanding support from the small business community.  We set up a voting site using the same Pligg platform that we use for our social bookmarking site,  BizSugar.com, but customized for one-click voting.  Books were nominated by a combination of our Book Editors and by the community.

Of the 110 books nominated this year, nearly 60 nominations came from YOU –  the community. Over 41,000 votes were cast – more than 10 times the number last year.  It’s a real testament to the support given to the authors of these books.  That support is especially important because most of the authors are themselves entrepreneurs and small business owners.

CONGRATS TO OUR FRIEND MELINDA EMERSON................RICH BENDIS

The Science Coalition issued the following statement today from President Deborah Altenburg after the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5116, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010:

On behalf of The Science Coalition’s 46 member universities, we thank the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate for reauthorizing this vital piece of legislation just days before its expiration and amid a busy lame duck session. The America COMPETES Act has tremendous implications for future job creation, economic growth and American competitiveness abroad.

Extending and funding COMPETES helps protect basic research and research-related jobs today and ensures the vitality of the American economy tomorrow. As noted in the National Academies’ 2005 “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” report, which spurred the original passage of COMPETES in 2007, innovation — driven by knowledge and research — is the key to maintaining and enhancing America’s standard of living.

If you are an entrepreneur for the first time, or entering a new business area, it’s usually worth your time to assemble an Advisory Board of two or three executives who have travelled that road before. But if you select the wrong people, or use them incorrectly, the impact will not be positive for your company or your image.

For perspective, you need to remember that boards of advisors, unlike directors, have no formal power or fiduciary duties, but rather serve at the pleasure of you the business owner. But they are not likely to stroke your ego, or be cheerleaders. They need to tell you the truth about your business, good or bad.