The global energy and environment challenges cannot be addressed through a local, regional, or even a national approach. They require a global outlook and a much broader vision, a Global Renewable Energy Grid [GREG]. A high voltage direct current [HVDC] transmission system must be built to serve as the bulk electrical power transport medium, with centralized energy storage facilities placed within GREG as needed. And perhaps most importantly, the set of socio-political overseeing institutions from each of the world’s nations needs to network together and administer just as seamlessly as the physical grid.
The obstacles to such a major global shift can be categorized as technical, economic and socio-political, with the socio-political challenges being the toughest. Researchers such as those at Stanford University have shown that adequate renewable energy resources exist to power the planet, but a detailed and comprehensive proposal for a global energy network has yet to take shape: regional planners need to combine their efforts before this can be achieved.  Likewise, complete and clear rules on how to pay for a global energy grid must be established.  This would require top energy administrators in each participant nation to come together under an umbrella organization at the United Nations.
After a brief overview of energy economics along with political obstacles, we offer technological suggestions as to how a global grid might be implemented.  HVDC transmission is recommended as a clear choice for most efficient and reliable long-distance delivery of electrical power 24/7/52.  And centralized storage mega-plants are proposed for balancing supply and demand across a network of mostly intermittent sources.