Review
David Blume's
Alcohol Can Be a Gas1 is the most comprehensive and understandable book on renewable fuels ever compiled. Over a quarter century in the making, the book explains the history, technology, and even the sociology of renewable fuels in a fashion that can be appreciated by the most accomplished in the ethanol and biodiesel fields, as well as the novice and young students of the issues.
Blume summarizes the history of ethanol from the Whiskey Rebellion to the 2007 Energy Bill now pending before the U.S. Congress. His history also includes the century-old struggle between ethanol advocates, such as Henry Ford (who preferred ethanol to petroleum and produced the first Flex-Fuel Vehicle) and his arch nemesis, John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil (who actually funded the temperance movement to enact Prohibition in order to eliminate his competition for motor fuel). He also exposes the great myths about ethanol, telling who conceived them and why they did.
Blume's step-by-step instructions can help anyone build an ethanol plant (from a few hundred gallons to a hundred million gallons per year) or convert your car into an alternative fuel vehicle. Blume explains that ethanol does not need to be a corn-only, Midwestern industry and that there are hundreds of crops in every state of the Union from which we can make renewable fuels.
The book has hundreds of illustrations, charts, and diagrams to make his points, including some of the most humorous, entertaining and provocative cartoons likely to be found anywhere. The extensive two-dozen page glossary provides an excellent reference on all energy-related subjects.
I have personally worked in the renewable energy sector in one form or another for close to four decades, and I can recommend Alcohol Can Be a Gas! as the best book I have ever read on the subject. You will laugh out loud at his sharp wit and the dozens of cartoons. But when you finish reading Dave's book, you will have a much better understanding of how our nation's energy policy evolved, why it is what it is today, and what needs to be done for the future.
The petroleum age is only about one hundred years old, a tiny blip on the history of mankind, and, according to many experts, it is over half over. It is time to review the [alternative] energy systems of the past, biomass, ethanol, wind, solar, if we are to understand our future energy independence. David Blume's Alcohol Can Be a Gas is a must-read to prepare anyone for this critical endeavor. --Larry Mitchell, CEO, American Corn Growers Association<br /><br />Everything you wanted to know about alcohol-fuel production but were afraid to ask. More than 20 years ago, veteran biofuel guru Blume (Alcohol Can Be a Gas!, 1983) beat the drum for alcohol-based alternative fuels. Blume's latest book is a well researched and expanded update to his original work, incorporating 21st-century concerns over global warming, domestic-energy policy, grassroots biofuel solutions, and the challenges of going green in a world dominated by the fossil fuel "oiligarchy."
Blume systematically and entertainingly builds his case for individual responsibility and activism in dealing with the nation's domestic-energy challenges, and he excludes no one in preaching his gospel of alcohol-fuel independence. For the novice, Blume tells the story of alcohol production's rich history in America, from the Civil War to today, and effectively demystifies the thorny pros and cons of the current national energy-policy debate regarding ethanol. This education alone is worth the cover price.
Make no mistake, the book is more than a bully pulpit for championing sociopolitical opinions on global-energy woes; it is a technical how-to book. Written with enterprising do-it-yourselfers in mind, Blume offers countless hands-on technical soluti --Ernest Callenbach, Author of Ecotopia
David Blume's Alcohol Can Be a Gas1 is the most comprehensive and understandable book on renewable fuels ever compiled. Over a quarter century in the making, the book explains the history, technology, and even the sociology of renewable fuels in a fashion that can be appreciated by the most accomplished in the ethanol and biodiesel fields, as well as the novice and young students of the issues.
Blume summarizes the history of ethanol from the Whiskey Rebellion to the 2007 Energy Bill now pending before the U.S. Congress. His history also includes the century-old struggle between ethanol advocates, such as Henry Ford (who preferred ethanol to petroleum and produced the first Flex-Fuel Vehicle) and his arch nemesis, John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil (who actually funded the temperance movement to enact Prohibition in order to eliminate his competition for motor fuel). He also exposes the great myths about ethanol, telling who conceived them and why they did.
Blume's step-by-step instructions can help anyone build an ethanol plant (from a few hundred gallons to a hundred million gallons per year) or convert your car into an alternative fuel vehicle. Blume explains that ethanol does not need to be a corn-only, Midwestern industry and that there are hundreds of crops in every state of the Union from which we can make renewable fuels.
The book has hundreds of illustrations, charts, and diagrams to make his points, including some of the most humorous, entertaining and provocative cartoons likely to be found anywhere. The extensive two-dozen page glossary provides an excellent reference on all energy-related subjects.
I have personally worked in the renewable energy sector in one form or another for close to four decades, and I can recommend Alcohol Can Be a Gas! as the best book I have ever read on the subject. You will laugh out loud at his sharp wit and the dozens of cartoons. But when you finish reading Dave's book, you will have a much better understanding of how our nation's energy policy evolved, why it is what it is today, and what needs to be done for the future.
The petroleum age is only about one hundred years old, a tiny blip on the history of mankind, and, according to many experts, it is over half over. It is time to review the [alternative] energy systems of the past, biomass, ethanol, wind, solar, if we are to understand our future energy independence. David Blume's Alcohol Can Be a Gas is a must-read to prepare anyone for this critical endeavor. --Larry Mitchell, CEO, American Corn Growers Association
The overarching importance of this delightful book is that it demonstrates how beside the point is the current pseudo-debate about the net energy from corn ethanol. As Blume demonstrates, fuel alcohol must be an important component of our solar-based future. It can be made from a huge variety of feedstocks, including sugar beets and cane, nuts, mesquite, Jerusalem artichokes, algae, even coffee-bean pulp; there is no real scarcity of land to grow fuel. There is a scarcity of independent, original thinking, and Blume's book provides plenty of it, along with ample doses of amazing, startling, and sometimes scary information, ecological, technological, and political-economic.
This is a vast, detailed compendium drawn from decades of experience by an alert, smart, and skeptical hands-on thinker. Blume has given us his biofuels bible, and we can learn from him and survive quite nicely, or follow what he calls MegaOilron into oblivion. --Ernest Callenbach, Author of Ecotopia
From the Inside Flap
This is a paperback so there's no flap but why waste a box. Here's some praise from others for the book.Praise for Alcohol Can Be A Gas! ¬"Brilliant! This book should be on the reading list of every American!! Thom Hartmann, New York Times best-selling author, and nationally syndicated host of The Thom Hartmann Program on Air America. Humanity has used up roughly half of the worlds oil and topsoil. Just in time, David Blume has given us Alcohol Can Be A Gas! Its a practical road map for supplying all of our energy needs without drilling, strip-mining, and/or depleting the soil. In fact, following Blumes model, soil fertility would actually increase worldwide; energy production would be not only sustainable, but democraticand highly profitable on the small scale. This is a brilliant visionary work. And, with Mr. Blumes witty personality, reading it is certainly a gas. Larry Korn, Soil Scientist, Translator, and Editor of The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming."Dave Blume has written the definitive opus on alcohol as a fuel. From the 30,000-foot view to the most minute technical detail, Alcohol Can be a Gas! makes a strong case for the practical, ecological, political, and economic sense in converting to ethanol. It's heartening to see the world's original alcohol pioneer stay abreast of the times with a book that has the promise to knock some sense into our insidious fossil-fueled economy. This book is much needed in this era of Peak Oil and fast-accelerating climate change." John Schaeffer, President and Founder of Real Goods, and Executive Director of the Institute for Solar Living.As intersections of the food-energy-climate matrix form in Iowa cornfields, Amazonian rain forests and Canadian gene splicing labs, and end-game battles for their control pit theocratic flat-worlders against biologists, climatologists, and tree-huggers over the very survival of life on Earth, David Blume emerges like a wizard on a misty pinnacle, back-lit by the full moon, revealing a gemstone in his extended palm.Albert Bates, author, The Post Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook: Recipes for Changing Times (New Society, 2006) The over-arching importance of this delightful book is that it demonstrates how beside the point is the current pseudo-debate about the net energy from corn ethanol. As Blume demonstrates, fuel alcohol must be an important component of our solar-based future. It can be made from a huge variety of feedstocks, including sugar beets and cane, nuts, mesquite, Jerusalem artichokes, algae, even coffee-bean pulp; there is no real scarcity of land to grow fuel. There is a scarcity of independent, original thinking--and Blumes book provides plenty of it, along with ample doses of amazing, startling, and sometimes scary information--ecological, technological, and political-economic. This is a vast, detailed compendium drawn from decades of experience by an alert, smart, and skeptical hands-on thinker. Blume has given us his biofuels bible, and we can learn from him and survive quite nicely, or follow what he calls MegaOilron into oblivion.Ernest Callenbach, author of Ecotopia, Ecotopia Emerging, and Ecology:A Pocket Guide What a tour-de-force! This is the most comprehensive and authoritative guide through all the controversy about ethanol as transportation fuel, showing it as a clear winner in the quest for solutions to our environmental and geopolitical problems. Engagingly written, full of important and amazing information and resources, this book meets every challenge to the vision for a clean, democratic path to a prosperous future for all.-Joe Jordan, Atmospheric Researcher, NASA/Ames Research Center Finally an alcohol book for the layman and backyard enthusiast. In our culture's collective industrialized love affair with mega everything, Blume cuts across the government-subsidized factories with ecologically practical models. Here is a viable energy system that can be embedded in a region linking rural producers to urban users of energy and food. Self-reliance and resiliency follow community-based alcohol production, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to Blume for codifying his life's passion in what is a veritable compendium of information. Joel Salatin Farmer and author of bothYou Can Farm and Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal.Ethanol champion David Blume has completed his opus, Alcohol Can Be a Gas! It is a great read. The history of petroleum, history of alcohol, technical coverage of production process, vehicle development (conversion) and feedstocks. It's all in the text complete with charts and pictures.David's wit, wisdom and hardcore experience illuminate this biofuels potential. We have eagerly awaited this publication and will use it in Sustainable Transportation and Biofuels courses.Dr. Jack Martin, Appropriate Technology Program, Appalachian State University, Vice-Chair of Renewable Fuels and Transportation Division, American Solar Energy Society|Dear Reader, Thanks so much for purchasing this special limited first edition printing of Alcohol Can Be A Gas! For many of you, I want to especially thank you for your patience. I have been working full-time on this project for four years, and thats two years longer than I thought it would take. For those of you who have hung in there with me, and kept cheering me on when the going was tough, I have to say I couldnt have done it without your support. When I first started on this project 25 years agofilmed my series for KQED and wrote the original bookI thought it had the potential to make a substantial difference to the economics and environmental quality of the United States.But today I have set a much higher bar for the goals for this book. I believe that the human races ability to survivein the face of the interconnected problems of Peak Oil, climate change thats heading for the tipping point, and unchecked population growthis in question. Without a radical change in how we power our societies and conduct our agriculture, the civilization we currently take for granted will dissolve due to wars for resources, while a large part of humanity will be forced to migrate to higher ground. It is my expectation that this new book will be a tool for the revolutionary change needed to address the challenges facing the entire planet, not just the U.S. So someday, when there are alcohol biorefineries producing fuel, food, and all sorts of products in every bioregion, when greenhouse gases are on the decline and ice packs are deepening on the poles, when air pollution is a thing of the past, all of our sewage is processed in cattail marshes, kelp farms send spent mash through derelict oil pipelines to Midwest farms, agriculture becomes otherwise regionalized and organic, you will be able to pat yourself on the back and know you helped make it happen.Share. Organize. Win.Dave Blume 6/11/07
About the Author
David Blume started his ecological training young. He and his father Jerry grew almost all the food their family ate, organically on a city lot in San Francisco in the mid-'60s!
Dave taught his first ecology class in 1970. After majoring in Ecological Biology and Biosystematics at San Francisco State University, he worked on experimental projects, first for NASA, and then as a member of the Mother Earth News Eco Village alternative building and alternative energy teams.
When the energy crisis of 1978-79 struck, Dave started the American Homegrown Fuel Co., an educational organization that taught upwards of 7000 people how to produce and use low-cost alcohol fuel at home or on the farm.
KQED, San Francisco s Public Broadcasting System station, asked Dave to put his alcohol workshop on television, and together they spent two years making the ten-part series, Alcohol as Fuel. To accompany the series, Dave wrote the comprehensive manual on the subject, the original Alcohol Can Be A Gas! Shortly after the first show aired, in 1983, oil companies threatened to pull out their funding of KQED if the series was continued. KQED halted the distribution of the series and book (see this current book's Introduction for the whole story).
In 1984, Dave founded Planetary Movers, an award-winning social experiment and commercial venture, well known for productive activism (e.g., on behalf of Nicaragua's Sandinistas), as well as for pioneering practices of progressive employment, green marketing, and the sharing of a percentage of profits for peace and the environment.
In 1994, he started Our Farm. This community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm was also a teaching farm, based on sustainable practices, that hosted over 200 interns and apprentices from all over the world, and held regular tours for thousands of people. Our Farm grew as much as 100,000 pounds of food per acre, without a tractor, using only hand tools, on a terraced, 35-degree slope.
The International Institute for Ecological Agriculture (IIEA), founded by Dave in 1993, is dedicated to healing the planet while providing for the human community with research, education, and the implementation of socially just, ecologically sound, resource-conserving forms of agriculture the basis of all sustainable societies.
Dave has consulted for a wide array of clients, including governments, farmers, and companies interested in turning waste into valuable and profitable products. Recent work includes a feasibility study for a macadamia growers' cooperative in Mexico, and a water harvesting/reforestation project in Antigua, West Indies. He is working with a farming college connected to the government of Ghana to develop alternative fuels, to train agricultural extension agents in organic farming, and to design an ecological strategy to stop the Sahara Desert from advancing. He also recently inspired the city of Urbana, Illinois, to hold a conference between builders, lenders, developers, municipalities, building inspectors, architects, and engineers, to coordinate the mainstreaming of natural building technologies.
"Farmer Dave" is often called upon to testify before agencies on issues related to the land and democracy. He is a frequent speaker at ecological, sustainability, Peak Oil, and agricultural conferences in the Americas, and has appeared in interviews over 1000 times in print, radio, and television. Dave firmly believes in Emma Goldman's view of, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be in your revolution," and he can frequently be found on the dance floor when he isn't flagrantly inciting democracy.
