Blazing a green trail, Morgan Stanley took the Environmental Finance Initial Public Offering of the Year award for its First Solar flotation as well as the Runner Up award for the Enernoc IPO. The inaugural annual awards appeared in the September 2007 edition issue.

The awards recognize leading deals that are helping to push the limits of market-based solutions to environmental problems. The editors looked at evidence of innovation, significant volume or the definitive opening of environmental finance to new investors or markets.

First Solar, an Arizona-based solar panel manufacturer whose cutting-edge technology drives down costs, has a key ingredient in a successful renewable energy business: the ability to deliver scale.

While First Solar develops additional power, Runner Up Boston-based EnerNOC, develops and operates technology to reduce peak load demand, producing "negawatts" or negative megawatts of capacity at crucial times.

In its coverage of the awards, the editors saluted blue-chip financial institutions for identifying the opportunity presented by environmental markets.