Global Issues >> Overview>>Benefits of GENI

Benefits of GENI

• Economic
• Environmental
• International Trade and Cooperation
• Hunger And Overpopulation
• Utility and Operator Efficiency

Economic

Linking inter-regional energy grids:

• Connects nations into a common economic framework (economies of scale).
  
  
• Avoided costs:
  
  
  • Reduces demand for fossil fuels, extending the life of our global oil supply and other non-renewable fuels.
    
    
  • Reduces the cost of additional capital investments for generation equipment and its maintenance.
    
    
  • Reduces the cost of additional capital investments for transmission facilities and its maintenance.
    
    
• Provides new markets for electricity sales for areas with excess capacity.
  
  
• Allows for purchase of cheaper power from neighbor utilities, saving utilities money, and increasing investors' returns.
  
  
• Brings needed income to developing nations, for development and debt repayment, through the export of excess renewable energy.
  
  
• Allows cheaper power to be delivered from distant locations, often displacing imported, expensive fossil fuels (it is less expensive to move electrons than fuel).
  
  
• Offers mutually beneficial projects where military-industrial corporations can be converted to civilian initiatives while maintaining full employment.
  
  

Environmental

Extending grid systems:

• Reduces the need for thermal generation (coal, oil, gas).
  
  
• Reduces pollution caused by burning fossil fuels (greenhouse and acid rain gases).
  
  
• Means utilities will eventually only run their most efficient and economical generators.
  
  
• Makes available cheaper renewable energy from sources thousands of miles away, displacing polluting fossil fuels.
  
  
• Makes electricity an export commodity for developing nations - replacing the cutting and selling of trees, reducing the loss of topsoil and rainforests, and slowing the spread of deserts.
  
  

International Trade and Cooperation

Expanding electric energy networks:

• Connects neighboring nations into a continuous trading relationship, helping to minimize reasons for local/regional conflicts.
  
  
• Provides instantaneous electricity to all connected nations - benefiting the economies of first world nations and supporting the economies of developing countries.
  
  
• Allows electricity flow from areas of excess capacity to areas of demand - a situation that is constantly changing on our rotating planet.
  
  
• Connects old enemies and developing world economies. Trading partners rarely go to war; it's not good business to shoot your supplier or customer.
  
  
• Increases reliability and quality of power for connected nations and regions.
  
  
• Indirectly stimulates national and local economies by improving quality of health care and education, and providing opportunities for "re-spending"of newly created disposable funds otherwise spent on higher energy costs.
  
  
• Increased experience and political comfort with international cooperation and negotiations.
  
  

Hunger & Overpopulation

Nations with enough energy for societal needs have a steady population - a condition predicted for third world countries when adequate energy becomes available.

Adequate energy and electricity:

• Provides the infrastructure for a clean water supply (pump, filter, and purify), refrigeration, and essential medicine (childhood vaccines).
  
  
• Supports all elements of the food delivery system: irrigation, transport, manufacturing and packaging, refrigeration, and waste recycling/reuse/disposal.
  
  
• Creates a proportionate reduction in infant mortality rates and, subsequently, in birth rates. Hunger no longer is a society-wide issue. Large families are no longer needed as a means of social security.
  
  

Utility and Operator Efficiency

While all transmission lines must first be justified economically, many additional benefits exist for grid system management and reliability:

• Load sharing between utilities
  
  
• Emergency back-up of power from neighboring utilities
  
  
• Peak power savings through daytime power exchange
  
  
• Deferral of additional capacity requirements
  
  
• Increased system reliability
  
  
• Improved frequency and voltage control
  
  
• Ability to retire older environmentally unsound generation.

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