Al Gore update on progress

	Peter Meisen, President of GENI meeting with Vice President Al Gore to update him on the progress of the GRID Initiative.

As US Senator from Tennessee, Al Gore responded to a GENI supporter stating,

"I am familiar with this concept and find the idea fascinating. Ultimately, a global energy network makes enormous sense if we are to meet global energy needs with a minimal impact on the world's environment."

In his book, "Earth in the Balance," Al Gore wrote this forward-looking endorsement,

"New technologies like superconductivity may bring dramatic changes, making it possible to distribute energy over very long distances and manage peak load innovatively. Eventually, such advances may even make possible the visionary suggestion of Buckminster Fuller two decades ago that the Eastern and Western hemispheres be linked by underwater cable to assist each other in managing peak energy demand, since the high daytime use of one hemisphere occurs at precisely the time of low nighttime consumption by the other."

Note: Al Gore's mention of superconductivity implies that the project must wait for some additional breakthroughs. In fact, research* now shows that high voltage electrical transmission can now reach 7000 kilometers using direct current and 4000 kilometers with alternating current. These distances are both efficient and economic today — and make Fuller's global strategy for peace and sustainable development doable now.
(*1984 report from the International Conference on Large High Voltage Electric Systems, paper entitled "Present Limits of Very Long Distance Transmission Systems.")