Library 2.0 and the Technology Petting Zoo

At a MOBAC workshop I attended last Friday, I saw a wonderful presentation by Jessica Goodman and Sarah Harbison of the Santa Cruz Public Library System on the new breed interactive, information-sharing web technologies that are taking libraries (and librarians) by storm! Fun, playful, innovative and collaborative, the technologies of Web 2.0 have so many exciting applications for our organizations. I am really glad to see that Goodman and Harbinson's presentation was so enthusiastically received by my colleagues in MOBAC, and that we are moving full speed ahead and embracing the possibilities for how new web technologies will further revolutionize our library service models.

The new library of Alexandria

In a sign of renaissance and hope for the future of intelligent humanity, a great international library stands once again in Alexandria, Egypt. The beautiful new Bibliotheca Alexandrina opened in 2002, "seeks to recapture the spirit of the ancient Library of Alexandria and aspires to be:

• The world's window on Egypt ;
• Egypt's window on the world;
• An instrument for rising to the challenges of the digital age; and, above all,
• A center for dialogue between peoples and civilizations."

While we cannot ever recover the wealth of knowledge that was lost to the world when the great ancient library of Alexandria was destroyed, this new institution rises like a phoenix after two thousand years, providing us with a renewed vision of possibilities for the preservation and furthering of the best aspects of human cultures and knowledge.

I wish to someday be able to visit and experience for myself this great achievement of human civilization!

International Institute for Ecological Agriculture releases the definitive resource on ethanol fuel

I am so pleased to help announce the release of David Blume's outstanding book, Alcohol Can Be A Gas!: Fueling an Ethanol Revolution for the 21st Century this fall. This is an excellent resource that should be purchased for every library! The release of this book could not be more timely, with such high-profile debates taking place among environmentalists about the pros and cons of ethanol fuel as an alternative resource. In this amazing book, Blume shares decades of practical knowledge on permaculture, showing that many of the current criticisms of ethanol as an alternative fuel are unfounded, and that it can be produced in sustainable, clean ways which do not compete with food production.

When I helped David Blume to research this book in 2004, I was immediately impressed with the brilliance of Blume's work, and the ways in which it could be applicable for small scale operations such as family farms, individuals, and local communities. If I recommend only one title this year, this will be it! Blume gives us the power to make an enormous leap forward in creating a plan to address the converging crises of resource depletion and environmental degradation.

Here's what reviewers are saying about the books so far:

“David Blume’s Alcohol Can Be a Gas! 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. You will laugh out loud at his sharp wit and the dozens of cartoons. 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. I have 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.“ —Larry Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of the American Corn Grower's Association


“Humanity has used up roughly half of the world's oil and topsoil. Just in time, David Blume has given us Alcohol Can Be A Gas! It's a practical road map for supplying all of our energy needs without drilling, strip-mining, and/or depleting the soil. In fact, following Blume's model, soil fertility would actually increase worldwide; energy production would be not only sustainable, but democratic—and highly profitable on the small scale. This is a brilliant visionary work. And, with Mr. Blume's 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

“As intersections of the food-energy-climate matrix form in Iowa cornfields, Amazonian rain forests, and Canadian gene-splicing labs, and as 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, backlit by the full moon, revealing a gemstone in his
extended palm.” —Albert Bates, Author of The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook: Recipes for Changing Times

“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, Ecotopia Emerging, and Ecology: A Pocket Guide

“Brilliant! This book should be on the reading list of every American!!” —Thom Hartmann, New York Times bestselling Author and nationally syndicated Host of The Thom Hartmann Program on Air America

“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

“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 Ph.D., Atmospheric Researcher, NASA/Ames Research Center, Seti Institute, and Cabrillo College

“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 You 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 biofuel's potential. We have eagerly awaited this publication and will use it in our 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

"Written with enterprising do-it-yourselfers in mind, Blume offers countless hands-on technical solutions ranging from home stills to for-profit manufacturing strategies, and builds chapters on detailed charts, graphs, and step-by-step building instructions, giving activist-minded readers the data and resources they need to implement personal and individualized energy solutions. A well-executed, socially conscious, proactive, and rigorous call to action.” —Kirkus Discoveries