A Brief History of GENI

By Peter Meisen

Global Energy Network Institute (GENI) was founded by Peter Meisen in 1986 and became non-profit in 1991. With a BS in Engineering from UCSD, Peter launched the initiative after studying Buckminster Fuller’s “highest priority objective” of the World Game – to interconnect electric grids around the world tapping abundant renewable energy resources. This strategy became known as the GENI Initiative.

Achievements: Since 1992, GENI has exhibited at every World Energy Conference, as well as United Nations global meetings, communicating the GENI Initiative to top leaders in every nation.

Over the next decade, GENI coordinated a series of expert panel sessions at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. The panel addressed electrical interconnections and benefits to each continent as well as the potential capacity of all six renewables. These sessions became cover articles and technical reports in several leading power industry publications.

In 1995, GENI hosted the Buckminster Fuller Centennial Symposium in San Diego, which helped develop the acclaimed one-man play “Buckminster Fuller: The History and Mystery of the Universe,” by Doug Jacobs. GENI has also hosted 10 World GameTM events with Medard Gabel and has co-sponsored the Buckminster Fuller Institute’s Design Science Labs.

Over the years, GENI has also built a robust website, www.geni.org, which contains over 3,700 pages of expert corroboration, global endorsements including 7 Nobel Peace Laureates, original reports, international grid and renewable energy maps, as well as renewable and transmission articles.

Current Goals and Projects: In 2006, GENI initiated discussions on the World Resources Simulation Center (WRSC), and worked with San Diego State University’s Visualization Lab to create a layered graphic that shows relationships and consequences of our global development. After a ‘proof of concept’ workshop in 2009, the WRSC presented a month-long workshop in 2010 on “Energy and Water Sustainability in Southern California.”

GENI has accomplished this work with a small, dedicated staff and hundreds of interns/volunteers from around the world who conduct research, market globally, develop GIS maps and much more.

The work of WRSC continues today as GENI moves into a 4000 sq. foot facility in mid 2011. Our goal is to create an immersive visualization environment where policy-makers and business leaders can literally “see” the historical trends on multiple issues, simulate future projections, and foster more sustainable choices quickly, in a collaborative space.

Published May 2011

[See GENI's Early History]