David Blume
Encyclopedia
David Blume is an American permaculture
teacher and entrepreneur. He has been an especially prolific public speaker, and is a vocal advocate for production of ethanol fuel, especially at local, small and medium scales.
use, as opposed to large-scale industrial or commercial use.
The book was originally written in 1983 for release with Alcohol as Fuel, a 10-episode how-to series on PBS produced by KQED in San Francisco. Copies of the original book and TV series, which was only aired on KQED, have since been nearly impossible to obtain. The book was rewritten and expanded to 640 pages over several years and re-released with the same title on November 1, 2007.
Blume's primary insight follows from that of Buckminster Fuller
, who wrote the foreword to the book in 1983: that alcohol
(or ethanol
) is a renewable variety of solar energy in liquid form, the cultivation of which can enhance soils, be used as a minimally- or non-polluting fuel, and enable farmers and individuals at large to make fuel locally.
Permaculture
Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that is modeled on the relationships found in nature. It is based on the ecology of how things interrelate rather than on the strictly biological concerns that form the foundation of modern agriculture...
teacher and entrepreneur. He has been an especially prolific public speaker, and is a vocal advocate for production of ethanol fuel, especially at local, small and medium scales.
Major work
Blume is the author of Alcohol Can Be A Gas!, a review of the history of alcohol used as a fuel, together with an extensive investigation of how to produce alcohol fuel from different crops, using a variety of tools and techniques, and with an explanation of relevant laws and industry practices. The focus of the book is on how to set up and run crops and facilities for local ethanolEthanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
use, as opposed to large-scale industrial or commercial use.
The book was originally written in 1983 for release with Alcohol as Fuel, a 10-episode how-to series on PBS produced by KQED in San Francisco. Copies of the original book and TV series, which was only aired on KQED, have since been nearly impossible to obtain. The book was rewritten and expanded to 640 pages over several years and re-released with the same title on November 1, 2007.
Blume's primary insight follows from that of Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, futurist and second president of Mensa International, the high IQ society....
, who wrote the foreword to the book in 1983: that alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
(or ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
) is a renewable variety of solar energy in liquid form, the cultivation of which can enhance soils, be used as a minimally- or non-polluting fuel, and enable farmers and individuals at large to make fuel locally.
Other projects
At one time or another Blume has been involved in the following projects.- Employed by NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
(1978), at an experimental solar self-sufficient energy, sewage treatment, desalinization plant in the Virgin IslandsVirgin IslandsThe Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
.
- Employed by Mother Earth NewsMother Earth NewsMother Earth News is a bi-monthly American magazine that has a circulation of 475,000. It is based in Topeka, Kansas.Approaching environmental problems from a down-to-earth, practical, how-to standpoint, Mother Earth News has, since the magazine’s founding in 1970, been a pioneer in the promotion...
Eco Village in North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, part of team practicing alternative buildingNatural buildingA natural building involves a range of building systems and materials that place major emphasis on sustainability. Ways of achieving sustainability through natural building focus on durability and the use of minimally processed, plentiful or renewable resources, as well as those that, while...
techniques.
- Founder, American Homegrown Fuel Co., an educational organization teaching farmers and others how to produce and use alcohol fuel.
- Founder, Planetary Movers Inc (1984).
- Board member, field worker, Ecosites International.
- Board member, field worker, Vivamos Mejor (1990).
- Board member, Committee for Sustainable Agriculture (aka Ecological Farming Association).
- Executive director, 1600 acres (6.5 km²) Hidden VillaHidden VillaHidden Villa is a United States nonprofit educational organization teaching programs on environmental and multicultural awareness. In 1924, Frank and Josephine Duveneck founded this working organic farm and wilderness area on land comprising the upper Adobe Creek watershed on the foothills of Black...
Farm and Wilderness Preserve.
- Founder (1993), executive director, International Institute for Ecological Agriculture, Santa Cruz, CA.
- Founder, Our Farm, a CSACommunity-supported agricultureCommunity-supported agriculture, a form of an alternative food network, is a socio-economic model of agriculture and food distribution. A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farming operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food...
formerly in Woodside, CA.
External links
- Permaculture.com, David Blume's main website
- Extended autobiography
- Review of ACBAG by Matthew Stein
- "'Farmer Dave' talks up permaculture", Daily IlliniDaily IlliniThe Daily Illini, commonly known as the DI, is an independent, student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1871...
(March 10, 2003) - Kirkus review of Alcohol Can Be a Gas
Interviews and lectures
- David Blume lecturing at Portland Peak Oil
- Short interview with David Blume on KPTV
- Interview on Wisconsin Public Radio with John Munson (http://www.wpr.org/wcast/download1.cfm?mp3file=jca080306c.mp3&iNoteID=74416|1 or http://www.permaculture.com/node/557|2)
- C-Realm Interviews with David Blume, episodes 77 and 78