More abundant energy supply. Backed by the global energy network, natural energy resources in nature such as running water, rushing wind, strong sunshine, and surging tide will be converted into electric energy by a chain of hydropower generators, wind turbines, solar photovoltaic power plants, wave generators, and other equipment for the benefit of mankind. By 2050, 66,000 TWh of clean electric energy will be generated every year on a global basis, nearly 10 times higher than in 2010. Abundant electric energy will light up every corner of the world. The world’s population will grow by more than 2 billion over 2013 to reach 9.55 billion. Where there is human existence, there will be a sufficient, uninterrupted supply of electricity services, with energy access for everyone at acceptable costs. The long-standing problem of power shortage in Africa will be gone, with a large population previously denied access to electricity eventually being able to use clean electricity; oil, coal, natural gas, and other fossil energy will be mainly used as industrial raw materials to continue to serve mankind. As coal mines, oil wells, and gas fields will be developed in a more orderly manner, fossil energy will no longer be scarce – the bottleneck arising from depletion of fossil energy that inhibits our development will finally be removed. Backed by sufficient energy supplies, mankind’s enormous material needs will be fully satisfied. For example, rainwater collected in large quantity, sewage discharged and salty seawater will be converted into clean, low-cost fresh water to meet the increasing demand for water and to promote food production.

Greater energy security. The energy issue is a typical global issue, long beset by resources, capital, cost, and other constraints. Relying on the global energy network, with technological progress and more stringent environmental requirements, the costs of solar and wind power generation will be significantly lower than those of fossil fuel-fired generation. Energy in the future will come at a low cost and in adequate quantities. Intelligent energy utilization systems will automatically adjust energy demand; an energy market featuring global allocations will establish an orderly mechanism for regulating energy supply and demand. Energy development will be less affected by financial manipulation, commercial speculation, monopolies, geopolitics, natural disasters, and other factors, such that wild price volatility is avoided and economic development better supported. Moreover, due to the lower demand for fossil energy and the ample supply of clean energy, together with a shift of the focal point of energy diplomacy and international cooperation to energy technology rather than energy resources themselves, fossil energy resources in the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere will no longer be a hotbed for international disputes or potential conflicts. Energy will no longer be used as a bargaining chip to gain leverage among nations fighting for their own interests.

Stronger energy platform. UHV and smart grid technology enables energy interconnections to cover every corner of the world, eliminating dead zones or vacuums for energy supply. Through terrestrial power grids and submarine cables, a power network that covers the world will, based on its strong capability in resource allocation, will ensure large-scale access to hydropower, wind, solar, and other centralized and distributed power supply and achieve a flexible switch between the roles in power supply and demand. Backed by large-grid control technology, information and communication technology, and advanced power system simulation technology, the static state of a large system with hundreds of thousands of nodes can be simulated on a real-time basis, power loads forecasted accurately and dynamic adjustments effected to the power system structure to ensure grid operational safety and stability at the transnational and transcontinental levels. A global energy network with the characteristics of strong and smart grids can stand up well to risks by automatically prejudging and identifying most sources of failure and risk. It is also equipped with self-recovery capabilities to cope more effectively with typhoons, ice storms, earthquakes, and other calamities and external sources of damage, ensuring that incidents like the major blackouts in the United States and Canada will not be repeated.

More efficient development. Global renewable resources will be fully utilized after UHV channels are built between large-scare energy bases and load centers. By that time, UHV transmission stretches distance over 5000 km, hence large power systems can have an efficient and coordinated operation for various energy. By fully leveraging the loads and renewable of various regions, ultimately have win–win cooperation and realize a maximization of comprehensive benefits for various energy development. High mountains, straits, deserts will not be the obstacles anymore to global energy interconnections, hydro power in Southwest China, wind power from Bering Strait, solar energy of the Sahara and marine energy from the Caribbean will be developed substantially and transmitted to power network. By then, clean energies will be fully exploited as well, including those enriched in the Arctic and equatorial areas.

More efficient allocation. Based on the global energy network, electric power in large quantities can be transmitted and allocated efficiently at the speed of light around the world. The scope of power transmission will no longer be confined to a country or a continent. Global installed capacity can be significantly cut back, given the potential to capitalize on the time difference between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres and the seasonal difference between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. By 2050, electricity outflows from the Arctic and equatorial regions are expected to reach 12,000 TWh, accounting for 16% of global electricity demand. In the future, nighttime gale will no longer be wasted as strong wind-generated power will find its way through interconnected channels around the Northern Hemisphere to provide a reliable supply of electricity to areas where people are at work during the day. Summer’s scorching sun will no longer be dreaded as it will become a source of uninterrupted power supply, delivered through intercontinental channels across the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, to warm up people in the icy cold of winter at the other end of the world. Through the tight connections in the global energy network, the globe will become an “energy village,” allowing for more convenient and efficient energy allocations.

More efficient consumption. In the future, transcontinental interconnections will become possible through the global energy network. Asia, Europe and North America will be the major electricity importers, while Africa and Oceania will become electricity exporters. Large power grids will break through the problems of limited consumption in clean energy-rich regions by expanding consumption to the whole world and basically remove the compelling circumstances that force solar, wind and hydroelectric power to go wasted. At the same time, interactions with electricity users on the demand side will guide the orderly use of power and promote energy conservation, lower consumption and peak load shifting to result in improved energy system operations and energy utilization efficiency. Relying on big data, the global energy network can collect, collate, and analyze information on energy consumption from each terminal. Demand is also prejudged and the optimized allocation of various energy resources realized to improve energy efficiency by avoiding, to the greatest possible extent, waste and low efficiency of utilization.

Substitution of clean energy through energy development. To cope with climate change, fossil energy development will be subject to stringent control. Oil, coal, and natural gas production will peak successively by 2030 before being gradually replaced by clean energy. In the future, conventional coal-fired power plants will be decommissioned, while centralized and distributed clean energy generation will be carried out on a large scale. A cluster of hydro, wind and solar power stations with a single-unit capacity of 10 GW will be built where deep canyons, high mountains and barren deserts are located. Offshore wind farms with a single-unit capacity of 1000 MW will also be developed. A variety of distributed generation sources will be widely scattered in the urban and rural areas, indicating the emergence of a revolution around the world in energy production characterized by clean energy.

Substitution of electric energy through energy consumption. By 2050, electricity will gain popularity around the globe, accessible by all people. The population of once impoverished regions like Africa will bid farewell to the era of firewood as a source of energy by moving straight into a new world of electricity. Electric boilers, electric heaters, electric chillers, electric cookers, and electrified transport will be used extensively. Electricity will provide a solution to the energy requirements of water heating, cooking, heating, air conditioning, lighting, irrigation, and other basic necessities of everyday life. As clean electricity can basically meet most energy needs, energy consumption in the transport, construction, industrial, and other key sectors will fall significantly. In the industrial sector, a shift from coal/oil-fired furnaces to electric furnaces and the use of electric heating equipment will be widely promoted to put all chimneys to an end. Power-driven high-speed trains will replace short- and medium-haul aircraft, sharply reducing the carbon emissions from the aviation industry. Over 90% of cars on the roads will be powered by electricity. By 2050, electric energy is expected to account for up to 52.2% of end-use energy demand. Mankind will enter a new era of electrification where “electricity is everywhere.”

Two-way interactivity through energy production and consumption. The conventional energy production and consumption process is characterized by a closed, one-way approach, leaving users with limited options. Against a backdrop of the global energy network, the Internet, the Internet of Things, mobile devices, cloud computing, big data, and many other advanced information and communication technologies will be closely integrated with energy and power technologies to make power grids more intelligent, which will drive a change in energy consumption from a one-way, passive approach to a two-way, interactive, flexible, and intelligent approach. Based on information acquired in real time on electricity usage by each user and each piece of electric equipment as well as the way electricity is utilized, power companies can provide flexible, sophisticated, and efficient demand-side response in accordance with the characteristics of users, guide users to change their power consumption behavior, and provide higher-quality electricity services. Users will be able to know in real time the electricity utilization status, electricity tariffs and other information, and take an active approach to participating in power management at the city and community levels. In addition, they can design a strategy for operating electric equipment and carry out lean management of electricity utilization. Tens of thousands of buildings, cars, and factories, which are energy consumers in the traditional sense of the word, will also become energy producers and traders on the global energy network.

Promoting economic globalization. The global energy interconnection will carry not just energy and electricity. It will also allow the aggregation and allocation of all the fundamental elements of economic development on a global basis to play a significant role in promoting economic globalization. In particular, the global allocation of clean energy on an unprecedented scale through the global energy network will not only replace conventional fossil energy, but also infuse new vigor into the global economy to break all the long-standing trade barriers that hinder economic integration and to advance the globalization of investment, finance, production, technology, information, commodities, services, and human capital. A transformation and upgrade of the world’s economic development model will also be promoted to enable countries around the world, especially the developing nations, to benefit extensively from the globalization process.

Reducing social costs. The global energy network will significantly shorten the energy supply chain and streamline the organizational management process in the energy industry. Through the global energy network, large-scale production and network-based allocation of clean energy will be made possible to effectively reduce the costs of energy development and improve the overall level of energy utilization at the community level. The costs of renewable energy generation in sparsely populated regions such as equatorial deserts and the Arctic after 2035 are expected to increasingly become economically competitive for electricity importing regions. With the fast falling supply costs, solar and wind energy will rise to a dominant position in the generation mix. By then, countries around the world will significantly cut back on investments on the political, military, diplomatic, and economic fronts required to safeguard the security of the fossil fuel energy system. Various problems such as oil and gas storage and transportation, pollution control at thermal power plants, nuclear waste disposal, and carbon sequestration will be basically resolved. The carrying capacity of roads, railways and ships for coal, oil, and other resources will be fully released. The long-term constraints on China’s economic growth of tight coal, electricity, and transport capacity, will no long be an issue and the social costs of energy consumption will fall significantly.

Optimizing economic structure. Electricity, a form of high-quality energy, has been used more extensively than ever in the world to replace fossil energy. It improves energy utilization efficiency, promotes technological progress, industry optimization and upgrading, and drives changes in production modes. It has brought about a transition from a mode of extensive economic development relying excessively on fossil energy that has led to the problems of “high consumption, high emission, high pollution, and low efficiency.” As suggested in a World Bank report, low-carbon transport and higher energy efficiency achieved by factories, buildings, and home appliances could add US$1.8 trillion or 1.5% to annual GDP growth by 2030. The progress in the global energy network will create more jobs and a new division of labor, such that hundreds of millions of people who are directly or indirectly involved in the clean energy industry will profit from the global energy network. The development of the global energy network will significantly reshape economic factors, encourage economic growth through increased reliance on new technologies, new knowledge and new ideas, and accelerate the development of the green and low-carbon industries.

Catalyzing a new industrial revolution. As a new, cross-industry technological revolution, the global energy interconnection will open up new markets and fully promote the development of strategic emerging industries. In the previous two industrial revolutions in human history, technological innovations like steam engines, internal combustion engines, and electric motors played a leading role. The third industrial revolution, one that is induced by the global energy interconnection, will progress in the direction of new energy development and the breakthrough integration and convergence of transmission, new materials, communication, artificial intelligence, and other new technologies. The breakthroughs made in energy storage technology will enable a single battery charge for electric cars to sustain a driving range far longer than that of vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, with the substitution of battery charging stations for gas stations on the highways. Through the grid-integrated operation of hundreds of weather satellites around the world, the light intensity and wind speed at a given time and place can be accurately determined to maximize access to energy from nature. The advancement of technologies, including plasma and nanomaterials, will thoroughly reshape the energy industry by enabling the manufacture of panels more efficient in photoelectric conversion, more powerful wind turbines, lighter electric vehicles, and transmission lines with lower line loss. Accompanied by the sustainable development of the global energy interconnection and with the application of green energy, intelligent network, energy conservation, environmental, and other technologies, a wealth of innovative achievements in energy, information, materials, manufacture, biology, environmental protection, and other areas of science and technology, will emerge to precipitate the birth and growth of the third industrial revolution.

Driving innovation in business models. The global energy interconnection is a carrier of not just electric power and energy, but also information, services, technology, and civilization, with the potential to create a new economic model. The global energy interconnection will make possible an extensive body of business practices surrounding energy and electric power, giving rise to an abundance of new approaches to value creation. Massive electricity and information flows will run on a global scale, while billions of people and countless mobile phones, electric cars, and buildings will go online simultaneously on the same platform, and hundreds of millions of smart devices will be “plug and play” ready. Then on the base of big data, a full range of integrated services can be provided for a variety of energy-consuming equipment. At times of low tariffs, some electrical devices will automatically turn on and even enter the energy storage mode. Various energy projects will be available for investment to focus dispersed funds on the large-scale development of new energy. Energy and electric power will become a business enterprise of public interest. Constantly fluctuating electricity tariffs will become a medium for exchanging wealth and trading resources. Grid operators will not only sell electricity to users, but also help users save energy, and even generate electricity to obtain more economic benefits, which will bring about changes in the provision and marketing models of grid-based services.

Driving institutional and system innovations. In the next decades, a new technological revolution and a new round of industry reform will cross paths with the progressing human society in a historic encounter. The global energy interconnection, as an emerging energy infrastructure, will catalyze a new range of emerging industries and bring about transitions in the way of allocating resources, energy market operation mechanisms and regulatory system models, which will precipitate a quick formulation of different laws and regulations, industry rules, and governance systems. These new institutions and systems will break through the institutional barriers hitherto constraining the development of productivity to reshape the system for energy and economic operations, promote the mobility and convergence of key elements of advanced production, and provide an institutional assurance for the formation and development of advanced productivity. Like a transport network, a communication system or the Internet, the global energy interconnection builds a platform for innovation in social organization and management to promote the coordinated development of all industries.

Promoting shared development of all economies. The global energy interconnection will spur economic change and energy transition. Different from the previous industrial revolutions, the latest transition is not initially of a local nature, but is driven by collaborative development on a global scale. The large-scale development of renewable energy around the world will turn the African and Latin American countries into energy providers in the world. This will not only solve the problem of local energy supply, but also transform the advantages of hydro, wind, and solar energy resources into an economic competitive edge. This will drive local socioeconomic development as a new source of growth in line with the world’s economic expansion. The construction of the global energy interconnection will also stimulate investment, boost infrastructure development in all countries, create hundreds of millions of jobs, promote all-round development of the world economy, and significantly narrow the gap between the north and south and between the east and west for a more coordinated and balanced global economic structure.

Promoting integrated urban and rural development. By optimizing the global allocation of electric power resources, the global energy interconnection will promote integrated urban and rural development on a greater scale and substantially improve the capability for universal supply of electricity in India, Latin America, Africa and elsewhere, in fulfillment of the United Nations-advocated target of “Sustainable Energy for All.” An abundant, reliable supply of electricity will ensure the normal operation of the infrastructure, transport, production, and other facilities that billions of people rely on for their daily living. The development of rural housing, education, healthcare, and other services will also be improved for the greater benefit of local residents.

Promoting integrated development of industries. The global energy interconnection will be deeply ingrained into the social fabric, complementing and positively reinforcing the operations of the Internet and the Internet of Things. It will penetrate the fields of energy, construction, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and education, blurring industry boundaries and making cross-industry collaboration a rising trend. In the consequent industry restructuring process, many traditional industries will, by availing themselves of the opportunities created by the emerging global energy network as an energy information system, complete their own transformation, upgrade and reinvention to generate new added value, infuse new vigor and recreate new wealth. On the one hand, an integration of different industries will be promoted and the coordinated progress of new manufacturing models, such as intelligent manufacturing and innovative design, and new business models such as service outsourcing, e-commerce and online shopping will significantly accelerate the development of the manufacturing and service industries. On the other hand, it will spur the integration of upstream and downstream operations in the same industry chain. In the future, intelligent production lines, green home appliances, and electric vehicles will be linked by energy and information technologies to achieve the restructuring and integration of upstream and downstream operations in a value chain. In a sense, there will be no place for bystanders in the development of the global energy network as governments, enterprises, social organizations and even every individual will be both participants and practitioners in a process that will benefit people from all walks of life and all economic sectors.

Let everyone enjoy smart life. The global energy interconnection will leave an indelible mark on all aspects of human life and work. On the production front, the better integration of information technology with the clean energy system will help achieve intelligentization of the entire energy system, so much so that sensors will be everywhere and instant transfer of information realized. The information technology systems will be integrated with the energy system to drive the operation of countless mechanical equipment and automatic production lines, forming the base for joint readjustment of the linked operations between buildings, cars, factories and power sources. The attributes of energy-consuming equipment will be changed from being a single, unifunctional unit to become part of a multifunctional interconnected grid system to eventually optimize the efficiency of the energy system. To improve human life, the global energy interconnection will provide unprecedented convenience for mankind. Intelligent operations will be made possible for all purposes, ranging from car driving, train operation and uninterrupted communication to air conditioners, microwave ovens, refrigerators, washing machines and other household appliances. Through remote control, we can turn on our air conditioners at home, prepare a delicious dinner. We can automatically control washing machines and other energy-consuming equipment to maximize user convenience and save energy costs. We can automatically turn on home energy storage devices, distributed power sources, electric vehicle charging, and other facilities to become one of the hundreds of millions of electricity suppliers. Through a common platform built on the global energy interconnection, ordinary families can perform energy management, purchase electricity on a mobile device, conduct multiutility meter reading, access integrated information services, and remotely control home appliances to fully enhance the intelligence level of daily life.

Let personalized needs be fully satisfied. In terms of energy usage, everyone can produce, share, control and customize energy through the global energy interconnection, making them energy users as well as energy producers. They can even have the freedom to choose between wind power from the Arctic and solar energy from the equatorial regions or between different electricity packages at different prices during different time periods. In the future, the demand for energy, commodities and employment will see a shift from an emphasis on economies of scale to a more diversified base. Through the global energy interconnection, tens of thousands of jobs can be switched from factories and offices to homes, changing the way of life and work and solving traffic congestion and other problems of an industrialized society.

Let people fully decide on what is healthy development for them. The new technological revolution triggered by the global energy interconnection and the application of the attainments achieved will accelerate the development of productivity, significantly enhance the human capability to understand and transform the world, and initiate changes in the ways of production, lifestyle and socialization as well as in social relationships. In the future, the automation and intelligence levels of social production will rise noticeably. Boring, repetitive jobs will be performed mostly by machines and intelligent networks; factories will be sparsely manned; automated factories, production lines, and driving will gradually become a reality. Workers will relieve themselves from the direct and repetitive labor process common with the manufacturing, agriculture, distribution, social service, and domestic worker sectors as well as from some dangerous occupations in coal mining, oil and gas transportation. As a result, they will have more time and energy to engage in their favorite creative pursuits, thereby creating conditions conducive to man’s full and unrestricted development. They will lay a material basis and ensure more time to enjoy more choices in life.

More collaborative ways of social production. As the fundamental driving force behind a new industrial revolution, the energy revolution will have a decisive impact on social production. The first and second industrial revolutions were marked by the emergence of mechanized and automated manufacturing, respectively. The global energy interconnection is the very fundamental platform to carry a new industrial revolution, with an enabling role in promoting it. With an interactive and collaborative nature, the global energy interconnection is highly integrated with the digital and intelligent manufacturing sectors, playing an increasing role in promoting “distributed” production, which in a sense is precisely the continuation of the global energy interconnection in its highest development. Enterprises are a form of social organization that consumes the lion’s share of social resources and energy. In the future, interconnections among enterprises will create a bigger, higher-level network of smart production. Manufacturing modes will undergo profound changes, with optimized energy efficiency achieved in multitype, small-batch production.

More efficient form of social organization. The concept of energy transformation is also extended to the renewal and optimization of the entire social system, including economic structure and the way of life. Against a backdrop of the global energy interconnection, a flat organizational model that is more efficient is well-received by society as a whole, while an emerging network-based organization with mobility features will gradually replace the existing rigid hierarchical organization. The global energy interconnection will create a world in which there is greater equality between people, with division of labor more extensively implemented on a global scale. The time required for the transition of new sciences, new technologies and new ideas to new products, new services and new applications will be shortened, with lower conversion costs. For individuals, the way of life is distinctly characterized by high “virtual” centralization but a dispersed geographical presence in reality. People will see themselves in a more relaxed working environment and a more efficient social organization.

Smarter social operating system. By 2050, smart grids will be deeply integrated with the Internet of Things and the Internet, providing more diversified services in energy supply, industrial monitoring, information and communication, home healthcare, logistics and transportation, distance learning, e-commerce, and other areas. This will facilitate resources sharing and multi-industry collaboration to open up a broad vista of applications. In the area of urban management, urban dwellers who account for two-thirds of the world population will enjoy unrivalled convenience, thanks to ubiquitous grids and communication systems that provide information covering almost everything, ranging from important matters like meteorological monitoring, urban energy use and fluctuating economic growth, to trivialities like whether a streetside rubbish bin is filled to capacity. The information will allow urban administrators to perform real-time analysis, processing and decision-making. On the healthcare front, human sensors will remain in contact on a real-time basis with network doctors for all-weather protection of people’s health, and even perform emergency surgery by operating a mechanical scalpel through remote control. To facilitate everyday life, intelligent eyewears, watches, and other wearable devices will have powerful functions. People can activate a program using language, action and even mind power to browse through news, start vehicles, order meals, and perform other tasks. Computerized electric machines can be used to automatically perform farming, irrigation, seed sowing, fertilization, lighting, and other tasks to allow producers to control crop growth precisely with a minimum consumption of energy and water. In business operations, marketing, and logistics systems will be highly integrated while unmanned transportation will perform quick delivery and automatic battery charging. In the field of transportation, autopiloted cars will always be connected to the global energy interconnection and the global positioning system; hidden chips on the roads for real-time traffic monitoring will assure traffic safety so that traffic accidents will be substantially reduced. Sensors located everywhere and integrated with smart grids will promptly capture locations, speed, altitude, vibration, temperature, humidity, pressure, air quality, and other information, so that the whole society is in a new-found physical state that is measurable, knowable, and controllable.

Climate change under control. The global energy interconnection will fundamentally resolve the problem of global climate. By 2050, the rapid development of renewable energy will bring new carbon dioxide emissions around the world down to approximately 1 trillion tons, or just half the level recorded in 1990, and the increase in global temperatures will be limited to 2°C. Threats to food production, water resources, ecology, urbanization, and people’s lives and property will be reduced significantly; the risks of declining yields of rice, wheat, corns, and other major crops in some areas can also be eliminated. Accelerated melting can be prevented on Greenland, the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and plateau glaciers; sea level rise will be halted; small island states and low-lying coastal areas will not be flooded; and huge investment in dam construction can be spared in hundreds of the world’s densely populated coastal cities so that hundreds of millions of people need not leave their homes to escape from seawater intrusion. Melted snow water on the Kunlun Mountains will continue to nourish the desert oasis in Xinjiang; the subsistence of the glaciers on the Himalayas will assure that drinking and irrigation water will continue to be available to hundreds of millions of people on both sides of the Ganges. Extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, cyclones, storms, heat waves, or cold waves will be reduced; and the severity of disasters such as mudslides and landslides will also be significantly reduced. As estimated by the World Health Organization, millions of lives can be saved every year as a result of lower greenhouse gas emissions from 2030 onward.

Ecological environment can be restored. Numerous energy and ecological concerns that have plagued humanity can be solved simply by the global energy interconnection. The scale of production, transmission, and consumption of traditional fossil energy will be reduced. Problems such as the surface subsidence, mining disasters, water percolation, explosions, and smoke emission caused by the mining, processing, transportation, storage, and burning of coal will be mitigated. The impact of oil and gas exploitation, transportation, and utilization on physical geology and terrestrial and marine ecosystems will be increasingly reduced. Forests and wetlands will continue to expand, and biodiversity will be protected and restored. Consumers living in densely populated or industrial cities can breathe quality air, drink quality water and eat quality food everywhere. Consumers will no longer have to pay for the costs of the prevention and control of pollution caused by fossil energy, much of the spending on medical treatment can be diverted to health care and fitness training, and quality of life will be improved and the average life expectancy will be extended. The negative impact of environmental pollution on public health will be mitigated at source.

Resource consumption significantly reduced. The global energy interconnection will steer the world away from the exploitation of fossil energy to the production of clean energy that will not result in problems of resource depletion, lowering quality or increasing prices. This is yet another prominent feature of the new renewable energy revolution that makes it different from the previous two industrial revolutions. Under the new industrial system, clean, efficient and environment-friendly energy will become the key focus of pursuit among all nations, which will contribute to a change in the human concept of production. According to the 2012 report of the World Wide Fund for Nature, if nothing is done to prevent the Earth’s natural resources from continued depletion, mankind will need to consume 2.9 times the Earth’s resources by 2050. Through the development of the global energy interconnection to replace fossil energy with renewable energy, the long-standing high-consumption, high-pollution mode of production, as well as high-spending, high-waste lifestyles will change. The current situation of resource consumption-led economic growth will be radically altered. The major economies around the world will be able to support sustainable economic prosperity in a world of bluer sky, more greenery, and clearer water, simply by replying on just a quarter of the level of raw materials consumed before the development of the global energy interconnection.

Global energy interconnection becomes the bond that unites the world. It transforms the long-standing basis for international energy order, changes the world’s geopolitical situation, and promotes the development of a multipolarized world. Different nations around the world are bounded by a common interest in new energy development and utilization, demonstrating ever-higher levels of interdependence and mutual cooperation and reinforcement among themselves. Political, military, and diplomatic contradictions and the potential of conflict arising from the competition for energy resources will be effectively controlled; geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, North Africa, and other regions will be eased. Oil and natural gas reserves in the Arctic region will no longer be the focus of international disputes, with Arctic wind to become the shared treasure of all mankind. The global shift from individual security to collective security, together with the expanding international collaborative efforts in other areas based on cooperation in resource, will effectively promote world peace.

Global energy interconnection becomes the cornerstone of social stability. The pursuit of a happy life is the most enduring source of strength for promoting the progress of human civilization. The abundant energy resources brought about by the global energy interconnection will improve productivity and support higher incomes, greater social security, better medical and public health services, more habitable living conditions, and a greener natural environment. Many factors of social instability under the traditional fossil energy system will be largely removed. As warned by the Asian Development Bank in its Report on Energy Outlook for Asia and the Pacific published in October 2013, unless the current overdependence on oil imports is reduced, the efficiency of electricity usage improved and greener energy adopted, the gap in energy terms between the Asia–Pacific region’s rich and poor will widen. The global energy interconnection will induce significant structural change at all levels of the community, contributing to the easing of social conflicts. The global energy interconnection lays the groundwork for shared development by engendering international efforts to achieve balanced distribution and exchange of the resources required for human survival so as to ensure human sustainability.

Global energy interconnection serves as a platform to bring together common interests of mankind. On the global energy interconnection, the mechanism to transmit in a split second energy and information from afar will play an important role. As matters of common interest among all mankind, the world is deeply concerned about how to address global warming, seek ecological improvements, improve social well-being, and achieve peaceful development. These common interests have transcended all social systems, development levels as well as ethnic, religious and ideological differences. Mankind is now bounded by a common destiny, with equal rights for all to survival and development. Linkages underlined by common interests will be developed as an integral part of an interdependent relationship. The depth, breadth and speed of this change will be unprecedented, so much so that any nation developing and moving forward must consciously try to integrate itself into the bigger global picture where development and progress by one’s own efforts will no longer be feasible. The global energy interconnection will eliminate the energy gap, laying a dynamic foundation for a world without waste, poverty, and wars. This new platform will accord various international organizations an increasingly important role, while human society will see the establishment of a better system for sharing interests.

Green values established. For nearly 300 years, the industrialization process in the world has enabled developed countries, with a total population of about 1 billion, to enjoy a higher level of modernization. But a heavy price has been paid in terms of global resources and ecology. In the future, developing countries, including China, cannot follow this traditional economic growth model in the pursuit of modernization. The global ecosystem is a systematic, complete, and organically connected whole. Transcending industrial civilization, green culture represents a more advanced form of human civilization. The twenty-first century marks the transition of human society from industrial civilization to a new green civilization. The global energy network encourages mankind to look at nature from a systematic and holistic perspective. It promotes a sense of responsibility toward and an awareness of cherishing and protecting the environment. It puts emphasis on upholding the values of the global ecosystem for people, nature, and society and on the realization of synergistic economic, political, cultural, and ecological development.

Energy conservation and emission reduction will become a common path to take. Far exceeding the reasonable needs of humanity, the level of material consumption during the industrial age went beyond the support capacity of nature to the extent of destroying ecological balance. The development of the global energy interconnection symbolizes a complete change in the mode of production and the way of life by ushering in a green, low-carbon society. While continuing to improve quality of life, people will abandon the relentless pursuit of material desires and gradually develop a concept of moderate consumption and resource conservation. A new concept of consumption that will win more appreciation is one that is built on a healthy respect for nature and the idea of living with nature and protecting the ecosystem and lives, and one that does not exceed the world’s resource and environmental carrying capacity. Intensive efforts will be devoted to change high-consumption, high-emission ways of production and life not compatible with the low-carbon economy. A scientific and healthy culture and mode of consumption will also be fostered and developed. In the future, whenever we buy a product, enjoy a service, or complete a trip, we will have access to accurate information and be able to control energy consumption on a timely basis. Everyone can manage their energy bills with precision and sees this as a virtue.

Sustainability is a deeply rooted concept. Sustainable development is a strategy of coordinated development between people, between people and society as well as between people and nature. What is achieved now will benefit many generations to come. The global energy interconnection is guided by a global view of energy, with greater emphasis on the utilization of renewable energy and a commitment to the sustainability concept. It will pave the way for a harmonious relationship between people and nature and show the way forward for the development of human society. The global energy interconnection is shaping a sustainability model that is focused on resource conservation, quality and benefits, pioneering technology and environment-friendliness. It promotes green, low-carbon, energy-efficient, and environment-friendly industries to become a new driver of sustainable economic growth, ultimately encouraging mankind to break down the boundaries of races and nations and transcend narrow personal and group interests to share responsibilities and uphold the ideals of equal cooperation – all toward the goal of protecting the earth and building a better world we can call home.

Enhancing cognitive thinking. The global energy interconnection promotes an upgrade of the way of thinking and conceptualization. The first is the ability to think holistically. As we are moving into a new era of global energy interconnections, people are reconciling, with an unprecedented rigor, energy and information, time and space, virtuality and reality, production and consumption, equality and efficiency, competition and cooperation, software and hardware, and any other two elements that are mutually incompatible or are binary in nature. In this way, human civilization is constantly developing and in greater depth. The second is the development of open, innovative thinking. The global energy interconnection is a highly open system and a strong driving force behind industry development to give rise to new technologies as well as new business types and models. The continued emergence of different convergent and breakthrough innovations will create a huge impact on industry economics, social politics and the world situation. People will be driven to think in tune with the times while constantly breaking the rules to become more open and inclusive.

Restructuring knowledge system. Knowledge is power. At a time of global energy interconnection, man’s boundaries of knowledge will constantly be pushed forward, with an ever-growing depth of knowledge. In a sense, the basis for promoting the world economy will switch from one oriented toward material resources to one more focused on knowledge resources. In the future world of energy, the continued emergence of multidisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary technologies based on UHV transmission, new energy generation, information network, and intelligent control technologies, will bring about an upgrade of mankind’s existing system of energy knowledge. This, together with an enhanced capability to change the world based on natural sciences and social sciences, will produce a major impact on all aspects of socioeconomic development. In the future, knowledge and technology will account for a higher weighting in the development of the national economy, with greater emphasis among all countries being placed on education and technology research, cultivation of all-round talents, enhanced human creativity, and intellectual property rights, with the objective of gaining a first mover advantage.

Enhance spiritual civilization. Each substantial productivity leap in human history implies a leap forward in spiritual civilization. With a highly developed material civilization, human society will reap the fruits of success and achievement to better satisfy the spiritual needs of people and open up broader vistas for new thinking. Human intelligence will continue to improve. The global energy interconnection will facilitate international cooperation and sharing between people, enhance the motivation to participate in cooperative opportunities in energy and information, arouse awareness of a common destiny, and strengthen social cohesion. Ethical standards will further rise. The concept of global energy cooperation that transcends time and space will be widely accepted; the spirit of contract and a sense of responsibility will impel people to commit to the principle of shared responsibilities and shared interests during the development and utilization of resources, with a new atmosphere of cooperation and integrity fostered. Civilization will be further diversified. Against a background of globally concerted development, the civilizations of different peoples, countries and regions will be respected and their characteristics accepted as they are, with sharing and exchange activities conducted to lift civilization to a higher level.