July 28, 2011, Clean energy is one of the most dynamic sectors in the world - hot start-ups, technological whizbangery, cutthroat competition, billions in venture-capital investments, a race against the climate clock.

But there's one aspect of the clean-energy field that's just as slow to evolve as the world of fossil fuels: patriarchy.

Men invented, engineered, invested in, and presided over the technologies and companies that made oil, coal, and natural gas the dominant fuels of our time.

And now men appear to be running the show at most of the firms pushing renewables, efficiency, clean cars, and the smart grid. (The Wall Street Journal's recent list of the top ten cleantech enterprises, for instance, is essentially a men's club.)

Look a little closer, though, and you see that women are gradually, quietly permeating clean-energy industries. Some are engineering new technologies. Some are climbing the ranks in big companies. Some are investing tens of millions in start-ups, or founding their own. Women are still a small minority in this sector, to be sure, but there's good reason to believe that they will play ever greater and more influential roles in the fast-evolving cleantech sector than they ever have in fossil fuels.

I explore the trend in depth in "Dudefest No More? Women are Infiltrating Clean Tech" on Grist.org. For one thing, women are getting better technical and science education, and they're seeking more meaning and social responsibility in their work.

They're also well-suited to the cleantech sector because it requires cooperation. Virtually every emerging "green" technology - solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, smart grid, green homes, electric cars - is part of a dynamic network of solutions; one alone can't serve all of our energy needs, but together they create a synergistic whole.

"Women are hardwired to cooperate, to be interconnected," says Denise Bode, former president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and now CEO of the American Wind Energy Association. "Maybe it's a lack of ego, maybe it's an inherent wisdom that we can achieve more together than we can alone, but in general, women tend to work well as a team."

There's still a long way to go before women hold an equal share of leadership positions in new energy companies, but a promising trend is emerging. Meet 12 of the most savvy and accomplished women of cleantech:

Lynn Jurich, founder and president of SunRun. Her company installs $1 million worth of solar equipment each day and now commands 10 percent of the residential solar market.

Christina Lampe-Önnerud, founder and CEO of Boston Power. With $191 million in funding, Lampe-Önnerud's team has redesigned the nuts and bolts of lithium-ion batteries, from the structure of the cells to patterns of energy flow.

Marianne Wu, partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures. Last year, Wu guided tens of millions into solar, biofuels, green chemicals, gasified coal, energy efficiency, and smart grid.

Laura Ipsen, senior VP and general manager of smart grid technology at Cisco Systems, Inc [CSCO]. Her challenge, as she describes it is "putting intelligent devices - billions and trillions of sensors everywhere - at every point in the grid, from generation and distribution all the way into buildings."

Martha Wyrsch, president of Vestas Americas [ VWS.CO]. Wyrsch now oversees 50 North American facilities for the world's biggest producer of wind turbines, which has created more than 2,000 new jobs in the United States since 2008.

Eugenia Corrales executive vice president of engineering and operations at Nanosolar. Her company is using methods of nanotechnology to produce thin-film solar that is just as efficient as crystalline silicone, but at a fraction of the cost.

Cathy Zoi, managing director of Silver Lake Kraftwerk. Zoi, a former Obama-administration official, will be running a joint endeavor between George Soros' investment fund and the Silver Lake private equity firm, investing exclusively in cleantech companies.

Ann Marie Sastry, president and chief executive officer of Sakti3. With backing from GM, Sastry's company has developed a next-gen lithium-ion battery that uses no liquids, offering big improvements in energy density and safety.

Beth Comstock, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of General Electric [GE]. One of the spearheads of GE's "ecomagination" campaign, Comstock is now guiding GE's efforts to invest $10 billion over five years in new cleantech R&D.

Denise Bode, chief executive officer of American Wind Energy Association. This Oklahoman served as president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America before becoming CEO of AWEA, where she works to lure new wind manufacturing facilities to the US.

Rebecca McDonald, chief executive officer of Laurus Energy. McDonald is pioneering a method for underground coal gasification that produces a synthetic oil which can be turned into a low-carbon jet fuel or used in petrochemicals.

K'Lynne Johnson, chief executive officer of Elevance Renewable Sciences. Elevance creates "green" petrochemicals that are used in everything from personal care products to industrial lubricants and plastics.

Read more about these women at Grist.org.