• increase everyone's standard of living
• cut fossil fuel demand and the resultant pollution
• relieve the population explosion
• reduce world hunger
• cut deforestation, topsoil loss, and spreading of deserts
• enhance world trade
• promote international cooperation and peace

One Man's Vision: Energy Abundance

Over two decades ago, inventor, scientist and mathematician, R. Buckminster Fuller proposed interconnecting regional power systems into a single, continuous world electric energy grid. While this global vision is still years away, technological advances over the past two decades have made the linking of international and inter-regional networks practicable today. In 1971, the United Nations Natural Resources Council corroborated these findings, but Cold War politics suppressed any real cross-border progress.

The origin of this initiative emerged from the global simulation of the World Game™. The World Game™ eliminates politics, prejudice, war and human ignorance, and has as its purpose:

        "to make the world work for 100% of humanity
         in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation
         without ecological damage or the disadvantage of anyone."

All the earth's resources were catalogued, and human survival needs were assessed, giving world planners the potential for global thinking and solutions. Upon realizing that electricity was the common denominator of all societal infra-systems: food, shelter, health care, sewage, transportation, communication, education, finance — the priority of delivering sufficient power to every human was established. Access to electricity for everyone is a primary measure of a modern society.

Technological development moves power further and cheaper

Thirty years ago, electric power could only be efficiently transmitted 600 kilometers. Breakthroughs in materials science extended this transmission distance to 2500 kilometers. This allowed utilities to interconnect across time zones and compensate for variations in seasonal demand. The buying and selling of power is now common in all developed nations, as utilities desire to level the peaks and valleys of energy demand to save costs and increase reliability.

Today, research from the International Conference on Large High-Voltage Electric Systems (CIGRE) shows the efficient distance of ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission to be 7000 kilometers for direct current, and 4000 kilometers for alternating current. This would allow for power interchange between North and South hemispheres, as well as East and West. Because of electricity's link to a quality standard of living, the interconnection of regional power grids became the highest priority objective of the World Game^™.

A Win-Win Solution to Global Problems

Expanding power grids has proven to be both economically and environmentally desirable. Presently, 82% of all power generation is non-renewable, causing many of the world's environmental ills — greenhouse gases, acid rain, toxic wastes. Yet, enormous potential for hydro, tidal, solar, wind and geothermal sites exist around the world. These renewable resources are oftentimes in remote locations, but within economic transmission reach. Today, as peak power is often purchased from a neighboring utility, the most inefficient, expensive and polluting generators can being phased out.

Billions of dollars are presently being saved through shared power, and much of the future demand can be met from wheeled electricity, rather than constructing the next power plant. These savings are reflected in reduced customer costs, while expanding markets for each power producer — a massive win-win situation.

In most developed countries, end-use efficiency is the priority. However, demand side management for the developing countries is difficult when their energy demand is rapidly increasing. The World Energy Council projects a doubling of primary energy demand in the next twenty-five years as developing countries grow, both in population and economically. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) now confirms the greenhouse effect, which will worsen if the "business as usual" scenarios prevail. The challenge for developing nations — one does not become environmentally concerned until he has handled survival. Efficiency savings are important, yet only part of the solution.

Improving the Quality of Life

The potential of UHV technology to the developing world is immense. Exports of excess capacity can be purchased by the industrialized world, providing cheaper and cleaner power for the North, and sending needed cash to the developing world. Comparative trend analysis shows striking improvements in all major societal indicators as electricity becomes available for developing societies. When food and health care systems can be sustained, infant mortality rates decrease, as do birth rates. When fewer children die from hunger related causes, fewer "insurance births" are required to ensure care for the elderly. The daily numbers are daunting. Our planet increases by 250,000 people daily and 35,000 children die of hunger and hunger related diseases. Projections that the population bomb would cease and hunger would end when the energy grid is in place appear to have merit.

The average life expectancy of fifty years for many developing nations would also increase. The energy threshold for a society moving from daily survival to decent living standards is about 2000 KwH/capita/year. Note: What's needed today in most villages are small decentralized generators that can meet basic food, water and health care needs. As development demand increases, the population can connect into the expanding grid network.

Building Bridges: Swords to Plowshares

As a high-tech global initiative that benefits everyone, the energy grid is ideal — and since international cooperation is required, political tensions and fears would be diminished. Many experts suggest that peace is enhanced when friend and foe trade with one another. Already over 50 nations are linked with neighboring countries, predominately throughout Eastern and Western Europe, and North America.

One focused project of GENI is the interconnection between Israel and its Arab neighbors, which is now proceeding after the Israeli/PLO Peace Accords and the Washington Declaration between Israel and Jordan. Two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, East and West Germany initiated the linkage of their grids, and all of Europe is slated to be interconnected in the next decade. GENI has assisted the dialogue for the South to North linkages of Latin America to North America, and from Africa to Western Europe. It's important to note that some of the world's ideal renewable potential exists in the developing continents of Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

These hemispheric interconnections would transcend political differences, being economically and environmentally beneficial for both regions. Given the technical and engineering expertise required, the capital, resources and brainpower could lead the economic conversion from a military industrial base to civilian oriented economies.

Cost vs. Benefits

Of critical consequence for the planet is choosing the appropriate energy path for India, China and Southeast Asia. Over half the world's 5.7 billion population lives here, and linking renewable resources is essential if we are to reduce atmospheric emissions. Leading to the Earth Summit, the United Nations Environmental Program called the energy grid "to be one of the most important opportunities to further the cause of environmental protection and sustainable development."

What's Missing

The purpose of GENI is to ask the question: if the technology exists, and the economics make sense, why haven't we done it? Politics, bureaucracy and nationalistic thinking are the barriers. What's missing is an informed public that can influence political will. GENI has facilitated the expert corroboration of this global vision and is working to educate all people of this viable option. What if all nations and people knew there was another global option, a compelling global strategy to meet the energy needs of a growing planet in an environmentally sustainable manner? What would you do? Time is of the essence.

Mr. Peter Meisen
President and Director, GENI

Mr. Meisen is a graduate (1976) of the University of California, San Diego with an Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences Degree. In 1986, he founded Global Energy Network Institute (GENI), a non-profit organization conducting research and education on the interconnection of electric power networks between countries and continents with an emphasis on tapping remote renewable energy resources. He is an internationally recognized speaker and author on the global issues of renewable energy, transmission and distribution of electricity, quality of life and its relationship to electricity, the environment and sustainable development. In 1983, Meisen co-founded SHARE (Self Help and Resource Exchange), North America's largest private food distribution program, currently serving over one million people each month in the US, Mexico and Guatemala.