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Santa Cruz Good Times Eco Patriot: David Blume
May 19, 2010
 The Distiller
It’s hard work saving the planet, but somebody’s got to do it. One person that is seriously making a go of it is David Blume, local environmental activist and author of the book “Alcohol Can Be A Gas!” “In a nutshell, alcohol is liquid solar energy,” Blume explains. Through his book, collaboration with local and national environmental agencies and by plain old word of mouth, this enterprising individual is determined to change the way people think not only about the fuel we use in our cars, but about the way we use energy on a global scale.
Blume’s book explores how the world would be a drastically different place were people to begin using alcohol as fuel. “Alcohol reverses global warming, air pollution would cease to exist in cities and wealth would be redistributed,” he says. Blume isn’t a soapbox environmentalist—he actually practices what he preaches. “I’ve been driving on alcohol in my Ford Ranger for 130,000 miles. You can make alcohol fuel for about 30 cents a gallon. With the tax credits, for every gallon of fuel you make you get a total of 55 cents so you actually make money. The oil companies want to make sure that we never hear about this.”
Not only is it inexpensive and easy (it’s pretty much like making beer,” Blume says) to make or buy alcohol fuel, the scientist explains that most cars can actually run on up to 50 percent alcohol already—it’s simply that most people don’t know that fact, don’t know where to purchase the fuel or don’t know how to make the fuel for themselves.
Another reason Blume is an advocate for alcohol fuel is that the chances of oil spills like the recent Gulf disaster could be drastically reduced. “I predicted a month ago that the spill would round the corner of Florida and eventually wash up on the shores of Washington D.C.,” Blume says. “Methane hydrate is a huge scary issue around the planet for ecologists. If the natural gas comes up and something lights it off, it explodes. That’s why the rig went down. Why are we doing this if we can just make alcohol? No one worries if you have a case of vodka sitting around the house.”
To put the oil scenario into perspective, Blume gives the following statistics: “Only 30 percent of our oil comes from the Middle East, and only 7 percent comes from deep water drilling. That’s a 37 percent drop in our oil consumption and we don’t have to do anything except create more alcohol.”
In fact, Blume is so fired up about the alcohol fuel movement that he has recently started a company called Blume Distillation. Based in Santa Cruz, the company will be a major manufacturer of the fuel that will help to preserve the planet for generations to come. | Leslie Patrick
For more information about alcohol fuel visit blumedistillation.com.
Personnel Profile
Author's Corner: David Blume
Thursday, April 15, 2010
David Blume is the author of “Alcohol Can Be A Gas!” He started the company American Homegrown Fuel during the energy crisis in the late 70s, then wrote the first version of his book to accompany a documentary in 1983. He recently updated it. We reached him a couple weeks ago, when he was travelling to Sacramento with actor/activist Daryl Hannah to promote alcohol-based fuels.
Address the focus of this trip and why alcohol based fuels are important.
What we’re going to be talking about in Sacramento today is the fact that the EPA is taking an extra six months to study whether or not a raise from 10 percent alcohol to 15 percent alcohol would pose any harm to the environment. The oil companies flat out refuse to buy any more alcohol than is required by the state and federal government to mix with the gasoline, even if it’s cheaper than their own stuff. They’re limiting the alcohol they buy from farmers by hiding behind a 1980’s ruling that was specific approval for 10 percent alcohol. So in Minnesota or Kansas or Oregon these states that we want to put in 20 percent, they won’t do it because the federal law says 10 percent. It’s interesting, because it’s either 10 percent or 85 percent.
Read the full story here.
Personnel Profile: Daryl Hannah
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Daryl Hannah is best-known as an actress, made famous in classic 1980s films like “Blade Runner” and “Splash.” More recently, she’s been active on a number of political issues. We reached her recently on her way to an alternative fuels event.
How did you get involved in the alternative fuels movement?
When I first learned about the possibility of not using petroleum, and that’s something we can all do now with very little or no modifications to your car, I was sold. I didn’t want to be a participant in the devastation, the havoc and mayhem and wars that the oil companies bring. It turns out biofuels are a great entre into the larger conversation of over-all ethical lifestyle choices and sustainability.
Biofuels have such amazing potential to be a very important part of the solution to the energy crises that we face, and if they’re not done correctly they’re just another problem. It’s really important that biofuels are grown, harvested and distributed in a mindful and ethical way. When people started becoming aware of biofuels, whether it was ethanol or biodiesel, all the people looking to get a fast cash return jumped in and started doing it in the most irresponsible way. They were chopping down rainforests, shipping over biofuels from Malaysia and the Amazon and boiling down vats of animals and doing all kinds of hideous practices.
Read the full story here.
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