What are the most important trends that the Department of Energy is watching closely in the energy sector in 2013?  According to David Sandalow, the acting Under Secretary of Energy, the seven most important trends are:

1. Grid Resilience and Infrastructure, including increased cyber-attack resilience, new protocols for greater renewable integration into the grid and system modernization;
2. Natural Gas, including changes to liquid natural gas export rules and increased research on methane hydrates
3. Reducing the cost of Solar, especially balance of systems and regulatory costs
4. Electric Vehicles and charging infrastructure
5. High Performance Computing and Big Data
6. Clean Energy Finance, including tax credits for wind energy and legislation on master limited partnerships (which are getting real attention in Washington DC right now)
7. China, including the country’s dramatic advancements in energy technology development

Under Secretary Sandalow made the comments at the Cleantech Investor Summit on February 6th, 2013.  For more details regarding these Major Energy Trends, please visit the following article: 7 Major Energy Trends to Watch for in 2013.