Page 10 RAIN April 1981 ACCESS ENERGY --~ ~~ WISE (World Information Service on Energy), U.S. Office: 153616th Street N.W. Washington, DC 20036 With its offices in nine countries and its global network of grassroots contact people, WISE serves as an international switchboard for information on the nuclear industry, the anti-nuclear struggle, and renewable energy alternatives. Access to the switchboard is available through the bi-monthly WISE Magazine ($7.50/yr. individual; $15.00 institutional), an exceptional resource, both for news and for network building. If you're involved in any branch of the safe energy movement, get to know WISE-and let WISE get to know you! - JF "Wood: An Ancient Fuel with a New Future" by Nigel Smith (Worldwatch Paper #42; January 1981, $2.00 from: Worldwatch Institute 1776 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Washington, DC 20036 In the first paper of the Worldwatch series, published in September 1975, Erik Eckholm described how concern with dwindling petroleum reserves was overshadowing another energy crisis with a more immediate impact on a third of the world's people: population was outpacing tree production resulting in "soaring wood prices, a growing drain on incomes and physical energies in order to satisfy basic fuel needs, a costly diversion of animal manures to cooking food rather than producing it, and an ecologicalIy disastrous spread of treeless landscapes." Averting catastrophe, Eckholm believed, would require both a new environmental ethic and treeplanting efforts on a massive scale. In "Wood: An Ancient Fuel with a New Future" Nigel Smith reiterates many of Eckholm's concerns and underlines the need for ambitious reforestation, but he also notes some recent hopeful trends which could eventually alleviate t.he crisis and lead to a bright future for wood in an era of fossil fuel scarcity. Fast-growing trees, such as the leucaena, which can reach a height of sixty feet in six years, are being used increasingly in reforestation schemes, and more efficient stoves, like the Lorena, are making better use of existing wood resources in the Third World. The experience of South Korea over the past decade has shown that when local people are made aware of the benefits of reforestation and are included in the planning of tree planting programs, progress can be rapid. Local support comes more readily if reforestation schemes are deSIgned to serve such additional purposes as securing soil to slopes and ensuring adequate supplies of clean water. Agroforestry projects combining food and fuel production on the same land base are particularly attractive. While many countries struggle to ensure adequate wood supplies for their most basic needs, others, which are particularly well endowed with forests, are already looking to wood's potential as a replacement for fossil fuels in industry and transportation. Sweden plans to use more of its forest r.esources to generate electricity and some U.S. companies are shifting factories to the Northeast to be near a ready supply of wood fuel. As petroleum prices climb, methanol (wood alcohol) is drawing increasing attention, and several countries, including Canada, the U.S. and Brazil, are refining the technology for its production. Clearly, wood's global potential as an energy source is substantial. Just as clearly, that potential will not be fully realized unless the barriers alluded to by both Eckholm and Smith are vigorously challenged and overcome. Smith sees " wise management" as a key in this struggle, but Eckholm's emphasis on developing a new environmental ethic is likely to be of equal importance. - JF RESOURCES Technology and Values in American Civilization: A Guide to Information Sources, edited by Stephen H. Cutliffe, Judith A. Mistichelli and Christine M. Roysdon, 704 pp., 1980, $30.00 from: Gale Research Company Book Tower Detroit, MI48226 Imagine, an annotated bibliography which is not only a comprehensive, well-organized reference tool, but is actually enjoyable to read! This volume contains over two thousand well-written capsule summaries of books and articles relating to the interaction between humankind and technology. Entries are arranged according to broad topics like Urbanization, Futures, Energy, and Communications, but actually you'll find everything here from the sociology of the bicycle to the ethics of engineering; from the significance of Rube Goldberg to the importance of Henry Ford; and from a portrayal of Paul Bunyan as "an occupational hero pitted against industrialism" to an analysis of "the pervasive theme of conflict between man and machines" in For Wh om the Bell Tolls . Have your librarian order a copy of Technology and Values-then use it to start plotting out a lifetime reading plan. - JF ENERGY PLANNING "The realization is dawning among energy experts that the present state of the world oil market-and the political instability of the Middle East-make the 1980s a very dangerous decade. The risk of severe sustained interruptions in the flow of oil is greater than ever before. Any such disruption could lead to yet another doubling or tripling of crude oil prices to as much as $100 per barrel, which might have devastating consequences." - Senator Charles Percy Now we all know that the federal government moves too slowly, without vision, and with questionable responsiveness to the ..haves" at the expe'lse of the"have nots" to be of much use in any real domestic crisis. If there was still any question of that, Reagan's unshackling big business and demoting conservation as a national priority " the mornl equiva lent of wa r" replaced by its im mo ral equivalent in El Salvador-has given us confirmation. He's been direct with us. "Don't look to the federal government," he mutters. So all of our rhetoric has come back to us, and we'd best do our homework and put our ideologies to use in our neighborhoods and towns. - C' "Community Alert; Preparing for Energy Emergencies" and "Energy and the Environment," Dec. '801 Jan. '81 issues of The Energy Consumer, free from: Dept. of Energy Office of Consumer Affairs Washington, DC 20585 You may have heard in late February that Tina Hobson, Director of Consumer Affairs for DOE, was "transferred" for blowing the whistle on her boss's efforts to plant an "Operative" at a a tizen's gathering on low income energy concerns. She has always been ur most receptive advocate at DO E and it remains to be seen how the Office of Consumer A££airs there will function (orif it will) without her. So, these two Energy Consumer issues may very well be the last. " Get
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