The energy landscape has changed so fast in the last five years that the national debate has shifted fundamentally, leaving experts struggling to figure where energy is headed.

A few new trends are clear: growing pessimism over the future of nuclear power due to cost and public acceptance after Fukushima, renewables closing in on parity with traditional fuels but still needing technology breakthroughs to become significant players, and cheap natural gas from shales transforming the landscape for everything. But questions about where the transformation is headed has revealed divisions and confusion among a number of the speakers attending the Oct. 10-12 conference of the US Association for Energy Economists in Washington DC. Keep reading →