Presentation Topics

"A Compelling Strategy for Peace and Sustainable Development"
Peace is much more than the absence of conflict. It can be a dynamic relationship between nations that benefits neighboring nations in cooperative ways. Electrical infrastructure between countries is an engineering strategy to build peace and environmental protection.

"Linking Renewable Energy Resources Around the World"
The shortage of energy is a myth that persists today. Clean, renewable energy is abundant on our planet — yet marginally utilized. The technology exists today to tap a much greater share of "green energy" — and reduce atmospheric pollution and the greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.

"How Kilowatts can Stabilize Population Growth"
Moving a family out of daily survival into a better living standard results in a marked reduction of birth rates. For 2 billion people who have no basic electricity, the availability of lighting, refrigeration, and clean water creates immediate improvement — and lessens the need for larger families.

The dymaxion map with
global electric network

"Comprehensive Anticipatory Design — Planning for the Future"
Today, long-range thinking often has a horizon of the next quarterly report. Optimal planning takes into account all the interrelated issues, projected trends and efficient design — to determine an optimal set of solutions. The questions we ask are oftentimes more important than the answers.

"There is Enough for All"
Many people believe that to get ahead, some else must lose. While the phrase "win-win" has become commonplace, the principle of ephemeralization, "doing more with less", offers humanity the possibility of providing a decent quality of life for everyone."

Previous Speaking Forums

Biography

Peter Meisen is a graduate (1976) of the University of California at San Diego with an Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences Degree. In 1986 he founded GENI, a non-profit research educational institute to explore global solutions for peace and sustainable development. His focus is on the premier strategy of linking electrical networks between countries and continents, with an emphasis on tapping renewable energy resources. In 1983, Meisen co-founded SHARE (Self Help and Resource Exchange), a large private, self-help food distribution program in the United States. Internationally, there are rural development programs in Mexico and Guatemala, using the strategies of micro-credit lending, community organizing and family health and nutrition.

Endorsements

"I support with enthusiasm your initiative. While directing the Foreign Affairs of Egypt, between 1977-1991, I have advocated the integration of the electricity grids of all the African countries of the Nile River using the Nile as the infrastructure of this project. I believe, as you do, that electricity must be at the service of peace and international co-operation."
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Former Secretary General, United Nations

"The GENI proposal encouraging the interdependence of nations through the sharing of energy resources is most exciting. One of the obscenities of Southern Africa is to see electric power lines strung across a rural landscape overshadowing communities where women spend most of their days walking kilometers to find firewood just to survive. I would support an initiative that promotes the distribution of energy to those that are condemned to a cycle of servitude. The opportunities for co-operation and increased international understanding through the establishment of an international power grid would be substantial"
The Most Revd. Desmond M. Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of South Africa, Chairperson of Truth & Reconciliation Commission, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

"The problems of humanity threaten each of us -- yet our ignorance makes us believe that somehow we can remain immune. That just isn't so. The critical issues we face have time frames much longer than any political term of office. These problems are interconnected, which suggests that the solutions will also be interconnected. We need more comprehensive thinking and long-range global planning. I invite you to investigate The GENI Initiative as I have. It offers hope for all humanity."
Walter Cronkite, News Anchorman

"The most thoughtful and scientific solution to the world's problems I've ever seen."
Ron Williams, Senior Research Director, General Motors

"The program for a World Energy Grid deserves the attention and full support of individuals and groups throughout the globe concerned with creating a culture of peace based on genuine sustainable development. It's a practical vision and significant contribution to the movement for a just world order."
Dr. Saul Mendlovitz, Dag Hammarskjold Professor of Peace at Rutgers University

"The GENI initiative fits right into the more and more interdependent world. Globalization is about a more and more borderless world and the need to respond globally to the needs of mankind. To preserve our common base, the Earth, we need to join forces to generate electricity as environmentally friendly as possible. This is crucial and therefore GENI deserves support."
Ruud Lubbers, former Prime Minister of The Netherlands

What the Experts are Saying

"The electric power business has grown remarkably in this century across the globe. However, the quantity of electricity traded internationally is abysmally small. Interconnecting grids internationally would permit the generation and transfer of electricity at least possible cost, which would not only ensure efficient utilization of natural resources, but also provide access to tapping efficiently generated power across international boundaries. The environmental and economic benefits from this approach could have revolutionary significance."
Ragendra K. Pachauri, Ph.D., Director of Tata Energy Research Institute

"I have followed closely the work of GENI for some time, and find the project to be one of the most important opportunities to further the cause of environmental protection and sustainable development."
Noel Brown, Special Advisor, Group of 77 Developing Nations

"I will not repeat it often enough. We need several great world engineering projects which will help save us incredible sums of money spent on national duplications, increase productivity of the world economy and help us save the environment. . . The world energy grid should receive top attention and be supported"
Robert Muller, Chancellor, University for Peace

"A global energy network makes enormous sense if we are to meet global energy needs with a minimal impact on the world's environment."
Al Gore, as US Senator (Tennessee)

"My conclusion is that to build a new world -- to build peace -- we must literally build it... Two billion people live without electricity today. Show me any area in the world where there is a lack of energy, and I'll show you basic poverty. There is a direct tie-in between energy and poverty, energy and war, energy and peace... Electrical interconnections between regions -- and even continents -- can and must be tackled now. This can be a vast and visionary undertaking -- worthy of our generation."
Walter Hickel, Governor of Alaska, Chairman of Northern Forum

Selected Articles by Peter Meisen

"Asking the right question for spaceship earth", Asia Engineer, November 1997

"Linking electricity for peace: a compelling global strategy", Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, November 1997

"No cure for a sick world?", Chemistry and Industry, November 1997

"The Missing Link", Sustain, Newsletter of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, April 1997

"Linking renewable resources around the world: a compelling global strategy", IEEE Power Engineering Review, July 1996

"Want to contain global population? Then expand energy resources", World Citizen News, vol. VIII, No. 5, Oct/Nov 1994

"Worldwide interconnections may be an idea whose time has come", Transmission and Distribution International, December 1992

Contact

GENI
4420 Rainier Ave. Suite 308
San Diego, CA 92120 USA
Phone: +1.619.595.0139 Fax: +1.619.595.0403
Email: info@geni.org World Wide Web: www.geni.org