SustainableBusiness.com has released its 8th annual list of 20 public companies that are leading the way to a sustainable economy. The selections are made in cooperation with a group of judges consisting of leading green stock analysts.

Judges select companies across the range of green business sectors: solar, wind, geothermal, smart grid, water, food, agriculture, green building and transport. SustainableBusiness.com said a third of the companies populating this year’s list are “corporate pioneers” — companies with conventional products and services that are greening their product lines.

Here is the 2009 SB20 list:
(Company Name — Ticker — Sector — Country)

1. First Solar — Nasdaq: FSLR — Solar — USA
2. Vestas — VWS.CO; VWDRY.PK — Wind — Denmark
3. Gamesa — GAM.MC; GCTAF.PK — Wind — Spain
4. Ormat — NYSE: ORA — Geothermal — USA/Israel
5. WaterFurnace — WFI.TO; WFIFF.PK — Geothermal — USA
6. Telvent Git, SA. — Nasdaq: TLVT — Smart Grid — Spain
7. Novozymes — NZYM.CO; NVZMY.PK — Industrial/Ethanol — Denmark
8. Westport Innovations — Nasdaq: WPRT; WPT.TO — Transport — Canada
9. Pure Technologies — PUR.V — Water — Canada
10. Chipotle Mexican Grill — NYSE: CMG — Corporate Pioneer/Food — USA
11. Naturex SA — NRX.PA — Food — France
12. United Natural — Nasdaq: UNFI — Food — USA
13. Plant Health Care — PHC.L; PLHCF.PK — Agriculture — UK
14. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank — BEN.ASX — Corporate Pioneer/Finance — Australia
15. Novo Nordisk — NYSE: NVO — Corporate Pioneer/Pharmaceuticals — Denmark
16. Google — Nasdaq: GOOG –Corporate Pioneer/Technology — USA
17. IBM — NYSE: IBM — Corporate Pioneer/Technology — USA
18. Herman Miller — Nasdaq: MLHR — Corporate Pioneer/Green Building — USA
19. Philips — NYSE: PHG — Corporate Pioneer/Green Building — Netherlands
20. Timberland — NYSE: TBL — Corporate Pioneer/Apparel — USA