Imagine a solar-powered catamaran that's capable of crossing the Atlantic. How about your very own sleek wind turbine that's designed to power your home. And my personal favorite, a new breed of hypoallergenic cats.

No, these aren't the pipe dreams of the future.

They're some of the inventions that made Time Magazine's Best Inventions 2006 list. And here's the best part: A lot of them use (or create) renewable energy and sustainable resources.

Take the Lotus Sanitizing System which is designed to zap the microbes, pesticides, and assorted biohazardous material from spinach and other fresh produce naturally, using little more than tap water.

Then there's the Tesla Roadster 100, which has a lithium ion battery that makes it twice as energy- efficient as a Toyota Prius. (Granted, with a $100,000 price tag, it is basically just a pipe dream.)

Other brilliant gadgets and ideas include a water harvesting machine literally taps the air to yield up to 500 gallons of potable water. The Straw Jet uses farm equipment to turn straw into building material. And a flower-shaped light fixture literally blooms with light when energy consumption is low in the home.

Cumulatively, eco-friendly inventions seem to strike a blow against all those doom and gloom forecasts we routinely hear about global warming, energy waste, bird flu, etc., etc.

It's so much easier to cope with the dire warnings when I have hard evidence that there are lot of brainacs out there who are already tackling the issues in creative, exciting ways. If necessity really is the mother of invention, then I'm glad that these folks felt the need to turn their attention to eco-issues. 

Now, if only they could work on making this stuff a little more cost-effective. If it weren't for the $4,000 surcharge, I'd already be signed up for one of these new sneeze-proof cats.