Trendpost

• US shale oil and gas production will continue to lead the petroleum industry, but investors will closely watch delivery rates, decline curves and global price pressures. The play’s glory days likely are over. New players will find new niche markets in shale gas areas.
• New processes will add utility and value to coal, but won’t be able to solve its essential problem: Coal is inherently dirty.
• The nuclear power industry will reintroduce itself in the US and around the world through safer, cleaner fuels and reactors.
• Thanks to the massive, global PV-panel manufacturing infrastructure now in place, the price of solar-generated electricity will continue to pressure that of grid power. Meanwhile, new materials and processes will deliver steadily greater efficiencies in solar generation.
• In 2015, the emerging hydrogen economy will debut to the general public through established vehicle manufacturers and the unveiling of at least one breakthrough technology.