Forecasting the Future Climate – Part 2

“The news from this Midwestern farm is not good. The past four years of heavy rains and flash flooding here in southern Minnesota have left me worried about the future of agriculture in America’s grain belt. For some time computer models of climate change have been predicting just these kinds of weather patterns, but seeing them unfold on our farm has been harrowing nonetheless.” Jack Hedin, Minnesota farmer, NYT Op/ed November 27, 2010 [1]

Tony Noerpel

Jack Hedin continues “Climate change, I believe, may eventually pose an existential threat to my way of life.” Let’s be clear. Any existential threat to American farming is an existential threat to America. Maybe Rush Limbaugh can get by on Oxycontin, but the rest of us have to eat.

Last week, we showed that even the lowest estimate, the Rutledge forecast [2], for remaining recoverable fossil fuels may lead to a major extinction event because of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide and rapidly increasing ocean acidification. The rate of ocean acidification is ten times larger than the rate during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, 55 million years ago (Pelejero [3]). The lowest credible estimate results in a peak production of all fossil fuels in 2024, just 14 years from now. Therefore, in this scenario and without proactive effort, it is reasonable to assume we will cut down every tree on the planet to keep warm and cook our food. Thus a loss of all forests and corals suggests a major extinction event will occur even with the lowest credible estimates for remaining fossil fuels. Both extirpations are already underway. All other estimates are much worse in terms of species extinction.

Table 1 shows the present and pre-industry CO2, temperature and sea level. According to Hansen [4], there is between 0.6 and 1.4 degrees C, warming in the pipeline. This agrees with what happened during the last interglacial period, the Eemian, 125,000 years ago [5 and 6]. The notation kya means thousands of years ago. Note that with only 300 ppmV (parts per million by volume) the Earth surface temperature was 1.9 degrees C higher than the pre-industrial climate and 1.1 degrees higher than today’s climate. The frightening thing is that sea levels, from Greenland and West Antarctica ice sheet melting, were between 6 and 9 meters or 18 and 28 feet higher than today.

In order to melt ice sheets takes energy delivered over time into the Earth system. The current radiation imbalance of the Earth is about 1.6 Watts/meter squared [7]. A Watt is a measure of energy flow, a Joule per second, where a Joule is a measure of energy. Over time, this energy heats the oceans and evaporates water, and heats the glaciers melting them in addition to heating the Earth surface. Melting glaciers is a wet process which takes considerably less time than building the glaciers in the first place. How fast the glaciers melt is a controversial subject. People generally speak of sea level rise within this century, as if sea levels will not continue to rise after that. This adds unnecessary confusion and considerably to the name calling. We see that Al Gore is in fact correct in his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, as sea levels during the Eemian inform us that 6 meters of sea level rise is not at all an unreasonable expectation and may already be unavoidable. We also know that sea levels can rise fast because that is what they did. Between 14,000 and 16,000 years ago, as the Earth emerged from the last glacial maximum, sea levels rose between 5 and 6 meters per century for some time. Also between 8,260 and 7,680 years ago sea levels increased an average of 5 meters per century over 600 years. Both estimates are from Ward [8]. Our predicament is, in fact, much worse.

During the Pliocene, 2 to 5 million years ago [9, 10, 11 and 12], atmospheric carbon dioxide was between 300 and 425 ppmV. Surface temperatures were 2 to 4 degrees higher than pre-industrial values and the sea level was 25 meters (75 feet) higher than today. Note that we are at the upper end of the Pliocene atmospheric carbon range. Recall from last week that we will be well above the Pliocene upper limit for hundreds of years. As the radiation imbalance persists, energy accumulates which continues to melt the polar ice. During the Miocene, 15 million years ago [13], atmospheric carbon dioxide was above 450 ppmV, which is where we are headed, and sea levels were between 25 and 40 meters above today’s levels.

If atmospheric carbon dioxide reaches 750 ppmV, all of the great ice sheets may melt resulting in 66 meters of sea level rise [14].

What if Rogner is correct [14] and we burn all of that fossil fuel? We know how to compute the increase in Carbon Dixoide within a first order using the equations we derived in [15]. We simply divide 5000 Giga tonnes carbon by 4.2 to estimate atmospheric carbon dioxide increase to be about 1200 ppmV. Add this to the existing 400 ppmV and we are well into Eocene conditions, 1600 ppmV. In this case, we will have changed the Earth’s climate within a few hundred years to an extent which took Mother Nature tens of million of years to accomplish. If we manage to put this much fossil carbon in the atmosphere this fast, we can assume with high probability that we will succeed in melting all of the polar permafrost [16-17] adding another 1500 Giga tonnes of carbon and we will likely initiate a methane hydrate burp (there is some evidence we already are doing this [18]) which will increase atmospheric carbon by several thousand billion tonnes [19]. Much of the release from these two sources will be in the form of methane rather than carbon dioxide which is about 33 times more powerful a green house gas. If Rogner is correct and we indeed burn it all up, we should assume with non-zero probability that we will cause our own self extinction.

Is all lost? Certainly not from an engineering perspective, in the next article, I will outline the technical solutions.

Hedin concludes: “The country must get serious about climate-change legislation and making real changes in our daily lives to reduce carbon emissions. The future of our nation’s food supply hangs in the balance.”

Actually, considerably more than that hangs in the balance but Hedin’s advice is well worth heeding.

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/opinion/28hedin.html

[2] (Rutledge) Rutledge, D., 2007, http://rutledge.caltech.edu/ presentation and excel worksheet can be downloaded here. Rutledge, D. Hubbert’s peak, the coal question and climate change, APSO-USA World Oil Conference, 17-20 October 2007, Houston, Texas.

[3] Carles Pelejero, Eva Calvo and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, “Paleo-perspectives on ocean acidification,” Trends in Ecology and Evolution Vol.25 No.6, March 2010.

[4] Hansen, J., et al. 2008 Target CO2, where should humanity aim?, Atmospheric Sciences Journal, October 2008.

[5] Chris Turney and Richard Jones, Does the Agulhas current amplify global temperatures during super-interglacials?, Journal of Quarternary Science, vol 25(60 839-843.

[6] Kopp, Simons, Maloof, Oppenheimer, Global and local sea level during the last interglacial: a probabilistic assessment, arXiv:0903.0752v1 [physics.geo-ph] 4 Mar 2009.

[7] Trenberth, K. E., 2009: An imperative for adapting to climate change: Tracking Earth’s global energy. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 1, 19-27. DOI 10.1016/j.cosust.2009.06.001. see also Trenberth, K., Fasullo, J., and Kiehl, J., “Earth’s Energy Budget”, American Meteorological Society, March 2009.

[8] Peter D. Ward, The Flooded Earth, Basic Books, 2010.

[9] Daniel J. Lunt, Alan M. Haywood, Gavin A. Schmidt, Ulrich Salzmann, Paul J. Valdes, and Harry J. Dowsett, Earth system sensitivity inferred from Pliocene modelling and data, published online: 6 Decembder 2009 | DOI: 10.1038/NGEO706

[10] Harry J. Dowsett, John A. Barron, Richard Z. Poore, Robert S. Thompson, Thomas M. Cronin, Scott E. Ishman and Debra A. Willard, Middle Pliocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction: PRISM2, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN FILE REPORT 99-535, 1999.

[11] Mark Pagani, Zhonghui Liu, Jonathan LaRiviere and Ana Christina Ravelo, High Earth-system climate sensitivity determined from Pliocene carbon dioxide concentrations, published online: 20 December 2009 | DOI: 10.1038/NGEO724

[12] Fedorov, A. V., Brierley, C. M., and Emanuel, K., Tropical cyclones and permanent El Nino in the early Pliocene epoch, Nature, Vol. 463, February 25, 2010, 1066-1070.

[13] Tripati, A., Roberts, C., Eagle, R., Coupling of CO2 and ice sheet stability over major climate transitions of the last 20 million years, Science, 326, 1394, 2009, DOI: 10.1126/science.1178296.

[14] Royer, “CO2-forced climate thresholds during the Phanerozoic”, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 70 (2006) 5665–5675

[15] http://brleader.com/?p=1783

[16] Tarnocai, C., Canadell, P., Journal of Global Biogeochemical Cycles (GB2023,doi:10.1029/2008GB003327) American Geophysical Union.

[17] Edward A. G. Schuur, Jason G. Vogel, Kathryn G. Crummer, Hanna Lee, James O. Sickman, T. E. Osterkamp, “The effect of permafrost thaw on old carbon release and net carbon exchange from tundra,” Nature 459, 556-559 (28 May 2009) doi:10.1038/nature08031 Letter

[18] Shakhova, N., Semiletov, I., Salyuk, A., Yusupov, V., Kosmach, D., Gustafsson, O., “Extensive Methane Venting to the Atmosphere from Sediments of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf”, Science 5 March 2010: Vol. 327. no. 5970, pp. 1246 – 1250, DOI: 10.1126/science.1182221

[19] D. Archer, “Methane hydrate stability and anthropogenic climate change”, Biogeosciences, 4, 521–544, 2007, www.biogeosciences.net/4/521/2007/

Purcellville Police Blotter – Week of November 27

Click here to view this week’s Police Blotter.

Blue Ridge Leader News – November 28, 2010

The Over-Friendly Skies

Oh, man- I really dread getting into this. This whole security check thing at our nation’s airports has us acting like the sky’s falling; maybe it is.

You’ve heard about the new- more intrusive- checks carried out by the Transportation Security Administration (and more importantly, its minions working at hubs like Dulles); the pat-downs have ramped up to an invasive search of your ‘private’ areas and the see-through imaging pretty much leaves nothing to the imagination, as far as the shape of your nude body is concerned. … Continue Reading

Two Separate Fires Attributed to Woodstoves

Although we have had a relatively mild fall, it won’t be long before the winter cold will be knocking at our doors. As temperatures grow colder, furnaces, space heaters, woodstoves and fireplaces will be fire up to keep us warm and cozy.

Therefore, Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office urges everyone to use safety precautions when using these alternative heating sources, such as woodstoves, fireplaces, or portable heaters. According to the US Fire Administration, wood stoves cause over 4,000 residential fires every year. Between Friday, November 12 and Saturday, November 13, fire and rescue personnel in Loudoun County responded to two fires that were directly related to woodstoves.

On Friday, November 12, an accidental fire which displaced several residents and their pet cats was due to a failure of a woodstove system.

Around 3:40 a.m., Friday, November 12, Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management received a 9-1-1 call for a structure fire at 24213 Corktree Lane in Aldie. Fire and rescue personnel from Aldie, South Riding, Arcola, Middleburg, Leesburg and Prince William County responded to the scene. Arriving fire and rescue companies discovered an extensive fire that eventually destroyed the home.

The American Red Cross coordinated long-term relocation assistance for the residents who were displaced as a result of the fire. No injuries were reported.

The second fire occurred on Saturday, November 13. Around 9:40 p.m., on that date Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management received a 9-1-1 call for a house fire at 19270 James Monroe Highway. Fire and rescue personnel from Leesburg, Aldie, Hamilton, Lansdowne, Purcellville and Loudoun Rescue responded to the scene. Arriving fire and rescue companies discovered a fire in an upper bedroom of the home. Crews were able to extinguish the fire quickly, bringing it under control in minutes, containing the majority of the fire damage to the bedroom. Other areas of the home received water and smoke damage.

Two adults, one dog and one cat were displaced as a result of the fire. The American Red Cross was on hand to provide assistance for the displaced family. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident.

The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office stated that the second fire, which resulted in estimated $75,000 damage, was accidental due to the failure of a woodstove system, too.

“Through proper maintenance and upkeep of alternative heating sources, fires such as these, could be prevented,” reported Fire-Rescue Chief W. Keith Brower.

According to the United States Fire Administration, heating is one of the leading causes of residential fires in the United States. The USFA reports that over one-quarter of these fires result from improper maintenance of equipment, specifically failure to clean the equipment.

The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office and the US Fire Administration recommend taking a few simple safety precautions to prevent many of the fires caused by heating equipment.

Wood Stoves:

Carefully follow the manufacturer’s installation and maintenance instructions. Look for solid construction, such as plate steel or cast iron metal. Check for cracks and inspect legs, hinges and door seals for smooth joints and seams. Use only seasoned wood for fuel, not green wood, artificial logs, or trash. Inspect and clean your pipes and chimneys annually and check monthly for damage or obstructions. Be sure to keep combustible objects at least three feet away from your wood stove.

Electric Space Heaters:

Buy only heaters evaluated by a nationally recognized laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL). Check to make sure it has a thermostat control mechanism, and will switch off automatically if the heater falls over. Heaters are not dryers or tables; don’t dry clothes or store objects on top of your heater. Space heaters need space; keep combustibles at least three feet away from each heater. Always unplug your electric space heater when not in use.

Kerosene Heaters:

Buy only heaters evaluated by a nationally recognized laboratory, such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and check with your local fire department on the legality of kerosene heater use in your community. Never fill your heater with gasoline or camp stove fuel; both flare-up easily. Only use crystal clear K-1 kerosene. Never overfill any portable heater. Use the kerosene heater in a well ventilated room.

Fireplaces:

Fireplaces regularly build up creosote in their chimneys. They need to be cleaned out frequently and chimneys should be inspected for obstructions and cracks to prevent deadly chimney and roof fires. Check to make sure the damper is open before starting any fire. Never burn trash, paper or green wood in your fireplace. These materials cause heavy creosote buildup and are difficult to control. Use a screen heavy enough to stop rolling logs and big enough to cover the entire opening of the fireplace to catch flying sparks. Don’t wear loose-fitting clothes near any open flame. Make sure the fire is completely out before leaving the house or going to bed. Store cooled ashes in a tightly sealed metal container outside the home.

Above all else, the Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office reminds residents of the importance of having a working smoke alarm on every level of your home, including one in every bedroom and one outside each sleeping area.

“In a fire, seconds count. Properly installed working smoke alarms can help provide the extra seconds needed to escape safely in the event of a fire,” reported Chief Assistant Fire Marshal Jan Mitchell. “We were very fortunate in both of these incidents, since neither of these homes had working smoke alarms. The outcome could have been devastating.”

Safety is of the utmost concern. Take a few minutes to insure that you and your family are protected. Install smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors and stock your home with a dry-chemical fire extinguisher. Practice a fire escape plan, and keep emergency numbers by the phone.

Should you like further information regarding fireplace, or other alternative heating source safety, call the Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office or Joy Dotson, Public Education Manager at (703) 777-0333. If you need a smoke alarm, they are available for free by calling 703-737-8093.

Sheriff Offers Tips To Protect from Credit Card Fraud

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office continues to receive reports of credit card fraud in Loudoun County. At this time there are over 50 suspected cases of credit card fraud that are believed to be connected. In many cases the victim’s credit cards are being used at various locations throughout the United States and even overseas. It remains unclear at this time how and where the victims’ credit card numbers were accessed.

If you believe you have been a victim of credit card fraud, you are asked to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office at 703-777-1021 to file a report with a Loudoun County Sheriff’s Deputy.

In light of these reports the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Financial Crimes Unit is offering some tips to help protect residents from becoming a victim of credit and charge card fraud.

Residents are encouraged to:

• Sign your cards as soon as they arrive.
• Carry your cards separately from your wallet, in a zippered compartment, a business card holder, or another small pouch.
• Keep a record of your account numbers, their expiration dates, and the phone number and address of each company in a secure place.
• Keep an eye on your card during the transaction, and get it back as quickly as possible.
• Void incorrect receipts.
• Destroy carbons.
• Save receipts to compare with billing statements.
• Open bills promptly and reconcile accounts monthly, just as you would your checking account.
• Report any questionable charges promptly and in writing to the card issuer.
• Notify card companies in advance of a change in address.

The agency also reminds residents to never give out your account number over the phone unless you are making the call to a company you know is reputable. If you have questions about a company, check it out with your local consumer protection office or Better Business Bureau.

If you lose your credit or charge cards or if you realize they’ve been lost or stolen, immediately call the issuer(s). Many companies have toll-free numbers and 24-hour service to deal with such emergencies. By law, once you report the loss or theft, you have no further responsibility for unauthorized charges. In any event, your maximum liability under federal law is $50 per card.

Governor’s Commission Considering Elimination of FOIA Council

The Governor’s Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring is considering the consolidation or elimination of a number of state government boards and commissions. Among those marked for elimination is the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council. … Continue Reading

Forecasting our Future Climate– Part 1

“The rise of atmospheric CO2 above 450 parts per million can be prevented only by an unprecedented (in both severity and duration) depression of the global economy, or by voluntarily adopted and strictly observed limits on absolute energy use. The first is highly probable; the second would be a sapient action, but apparently not for this species.” – Vaclav Smil, Correspondence, Nature, Vol 453, 8 May 2008.

“We can see from the past what we face in a future we have created. The geological record holds a rich history for scrutiny.” Peter D. Ward, The Flooded Earth, 2010.

It turns out that it is possible to forecast our climate future with some degree of accuracy because we know what happened on Earth in the past. Past climates are at least a first order approximation to future climates. We do not know how much fossil fuel we have left and we do not know what the human response to entropy problems will be but if we know how much we will use we can calculate the resultant increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and compare that to past climates.

To my knowledge all credible estimates for remaining recoverable fossil fuels are bounded by two divergent estimates. David Rutledge an engineering professor at CalTech has calculated that we have about 560 billion tonnes of carbon in coal, oil and natural gas (Rutledge). A tonne of carbon is equivalent to about seven or eight barrels of oil for reference. Rutledge exhaustively researched historic production and applied a technique called Hubbard linearization, named for M. King Hubbard. In 1956 Hubbard famously and accurately forecast that the peak of United States oil production would occur in 1970 using this technique. Rogner estimates remaining recoverable reserves to be 5000 billion tonnes of carbon in all fossil fuels (Rogner). Both estimates are credible. All other credible estimates are between these bounds. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change used values ranging from 1000 to 2000 billion tonnes.

Figure 1

If we assume that the fossil fuels we burn are limited by the Rutledge estimate, we can determine the best case scenario for our climate future. In this case world peak fossil fuels production will occur around 2024, in just 14 years as shown in figure 1. Robert Hirsch, Roger Bezdek and Robert Wendling analyzing peak oil estimated that we would need about 20 years to effect a transition to alternative sources of energy in order to avoid an economic recession (Hirsch). But their study is limited to oil production and they assumed that we would still have plenty of natural gas and coal. Vaclav Smil estimates we need at least one or two generations to effect a transition from fossil fuels (Smil). If these studies are correct and if Rutledge is right then we cannot avoid some level of economic collapse even if we go on a war footing. We need an energy and climate bill now. The recent election results preclude effective action for at least two years.

If we continue business as usual, i.e., no effective action, by 2024 the world population will be over 8 billion. All of these people will need to stay warm and cook their food. Since we are already deforesting our planet at a rate of 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon per year, it is rational to assume we will cut down every tree. There is a total of 288 billion tonnes of total carbon in our forests worldwide above ground (Moutinho). Therefore the minimum total emissions of carbon dioxide would be 848 billion tonnes. This is shown in figure 1. The climate is insensitive to the profile of our emissions. It is only the total that really counts.

I used Tom Wigley’s program (Wigley) to compute the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result, shown in figure 2. Note that even though emissions peak in 2024 in this scenario, atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to climb reaching 525 parts per million by volume about 40 years later. Significantly, according to Pelejero the threshold for coral survival is 450 parts per million by volume of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Pelejero). We will remain above that threshold for almost 300 years. Our oceans are becoming more acidic at a rate ten times faster than the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum which was a major marine extinction event (Pelejero). Combined with other ocean insults such as over fishing and pollution, even the lowest estimate of remaining fossil fuels, assuming we burn it all, results in a significant extinction event (Jackson).

Jeremy Jackson writes:

“We can summarize the extent of human impacts on the oceans in stark terms. Humans have caused and continue to hasten the ecological extinction of desirable species and ocean ecosystems. In their place, we are witnessing population explosions of formerly uncommon species and novel ecosystems with concomitant losses in biodiversity and productivity for human use. Many of the newly abundant species, such as jellyfish in the place of fish and toxic dinoflagellates in the place of formerly dominant phytoplankton, are undesirable equivalents to rats, cockroaches and pathogens on the land. Moreover, there are good theoretical reasons and considerable empirical evidence to suggest that, once established, such newly established communities become stabilized owing to positive feedbacks among newly dominant organisms and their highly altered environments—which raises questions about whether unfavourable changes can be undone if we put our minds to it.”

Figure 2

We will also denude our planet of trees as well as corals so the minimum credible estimate for remaining recoverable fossil fuels results in a major extinction event, which is already underway, and an economic catastrophe. Note that the real impact of even this minimal global warming is locked in after 2024. There will be no Mulligan.

In summary, we see that if Rutledge is right and we continue to elect the clueless, then we will suffer a very severe and prolonged depression and cause a serious extinction event. All other estimates result in more severe results.

In part 2, we will compare the results shown in figure 2 with the paleoclimate record to determine the resultant increase in surface temperature and sea level rise.

In part 3, I will lay out what we have to do to avoid catastrophe.

Tony Noerpel

(Rutledge) Rutledge, D., 2007, http://rutledge.caltech.edu/ presentation and excel worksheet can be downloaded here. Rutledge, D. Hubbert’s peak, the coal question and climate change, APSO-USA World Oil Conference, 17-20 October 2007, Houston, Texas.

(Rogner) Rogner, H. H., An assessment of world hydrocarbon resources, Annual Review of Energy and the Environment, 22:217-262, 1997.

(Hirsch) Robert Hirsch, Roger Bezdek, Robert Wendling, Peaking Of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, & Risk Management, DOE Report, February 2005

(Smil) Vaclav Smil, Energy Transitions, 2010

(Wigley) Tom Wigley, http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/cas/wigley/magicc/

(Moutinho) Moutinho, P. and Schwatzman, S. (eds) Tropical deforestation and climate change, Belem, Brazil: Amazon Inst. For Environmental Research.

(Pelejero) Carles Pelejero, Eva Calvo and Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, “Paleo-perspectives on ocean acidification,” Trends in Ecology and Evolution Vol.25 No.6, March 2010.

(Jackson) Jeremy B. C. Jackson, “The future of the oceans past,” Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B (2010) 365, 3765–3778, doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0278

Holiday Pet Pantry Is Coming

For the sixth year, Loudoun County Animal Care and Control is hosting a Pet Pantry in conjunction with the Community Holiday Coalition to provide donated pet food and supplies to families in need during the holiday season. The Pet Pantry will be housed in Animal Care and Control’s Mobile Adoption Vehicle, parked at the Holiday Coalition’s Store in Sterling December 10-17.

The economic downturn has created an even greater need to provide assistance to those experiencing financial hardships during this holiday season, and many of these families include pets. The Pet Pantry allows families who are picking up food, clothes, and toys at the Holiday Coalition Store to also receive food and treats for their pets. The number of families needed assistance is expected to reach an all-time high this year.

The Pet Pantry is part of Loudoun County Animal Care and Control’s award-winning CARE program, which works year- round to assist low income citizens with pet care needs such as medical assistance, low cost spay/neuter surgery, and pet food. Information will be made available about the CARE program for those that need additional assistance throughout the year.

The Pet Pantry is stocked solely through donations from citizens and businesses. Donations of unopened pet food, treats, and new or gently used toys will be accepted at the Loudoun County Animal Shelter, as well as at all Holiday Coalition collection sites, through December 15. Food for cats and small animals is especially needed.

For more information on the Community Holiday Coalition and the Pet Pantry, visit www.loudoun.gov/holidaycoalition. For more information on Animal Care and Control and the CARE program, visit www.loudoun.gov/animals.

Loudoun County Searches To Find the “Greenest” Company

NCC Wins Platinum and First Place in the Mid-Sized Business Category at the 2010 Loudoun County Green Business Challenge

The National Conference Center (NCC) received first place in the mid-sized business awards category and the Platinum Award from the Loudoun County Green Business Challenge for NCC’s dedication in maintaining an eco-friendly property. The Platinum Award was the highest level awarded. With 917 guest rooms and more than 250 meeting rooms, NCC welcomes as many as 6,000 guests a month. As one of the largest conference centers in the nation, the team at NCC began their green efforts in the early 90’s to responsibly conserve water and energy at the facility.

The Loudoun County Green Business Challenge honors companies that make a commitment to ensuring a healthy and sustainable life. Each year, participating businesses in the county pledge to take action and better the community and environment with sustainable practices.

In the past twenty years, NCC has come together to involve the entire property and surrounding community in practicing sustainability. Today, NCC’s established green team is the driving force behind the property’s new major green initiatives. According to Pat Trammell, director of housekeeping and “chief sustainability officer (CSO)” at NCC, “Having a green team makes the property’s goals more defined by bringing future ideas to the table. Most importantly, it connects people who are passionate about being green.”

These sustainability practices expand over 110-acres and include water saving devices in the showers, toilets and sinks; motion-sensor heating and air conditioning devices in guest rooms and meeting space; and biodiesel vehicles that operate off of diverted fryer oil.

Other conservation efforts include an active bed linen and towel reuse program, all high-efficient Energy Star appliances, energy-efficient CFL bulbs throughout the property, and the use of recycled office materials. The conference center also considers the “greenness” of its supply chain. NCC’s housekeeping department has eliminated multiple cleaning products and chooses supplies based on the company’s proximity and the manufacturing process.

As a conference center, food flexibility plays a large role in attendance. Currently, the conference center participates in a Farm-to-Table initiative through a partnership with Local Food Hub, a non-profit organization that collaborates with local farmers to provide practical vendors. By using Local Food Hub and other Virginia farms, this promotes stewardship of the land and requires less transportation.

At the forefront of transportation sustainability, The National Conference Center diverts 100% of their fryer oil to create biodiesel fuel for their shuttles. By converting the fryer oil, the newer shuttles are able to operate off the BIO 20 diesel fuel during the warmer months, an estimated diversion of 1300 gallons per year.

The National Conference Center has also extended their efforts outward to the community. For the past four years, NCC has hosted an annual Earth Day event. In April 2010, NCC employees, students from neighboring Belmont Ridge Middle School, and volunteers from Blue Ridge Wildlife Center came together to help clean up the property’s 110 wooded acres, the creek that leads into the Potomac, and shared ways of being green.

Since 2006, NCC’s primary strategic initiatives have been to fully participate in environmental stewardship and serve as a leader in sustainability. In 2009 alone, the conference center was able to save over two million gallons of water and over two million kilo watt hours, reducing their energy consumption by 10 percent.

“We saved green by going green,” explained Kurt Krause general manager at NCC, “Businesses can’t ask for a better outcome than that!”

Located in Northern Virginia 12 miles from Dulles International Airport and 35 miles from Washington, D.C., the National Conference Center (NCC) is one of the largest and most comprehensive conference centers in the nation. With 917 guest rooms and over 250,000 square feet of meeting space, NCC has become a hub for productive meetings. NCC is also on the GSA schedule. For information call 800-640-2684 or visit www.conferencecenter.com.

Blue Ridge Leader News – November 21, 2010

All Ganged Up

To gang, or not to gang, that is the question, at least as far as this story is concerned. The Sheriff says a recent mob assault in Sterling stemmed from a personal dispute between some of the individuals involved in the incident; to read some of the internet commentary you’d think these suspects all had MS-13 tattoos, carried machetes and had no legal right to enter the US in the first place. … Continue Reading

Sheriff’s Office Alerts Residents to Hijacked E-mail Scam

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office reminds computer users to secure their passwords and update anti-virus and anti-spyware programs after the agency received several complaints from residents whose e-mail accounts were hijacked as part of a scam.

Several Loudouners reported that their e-mail accounts were used by an outside party to send e-mails requesting money to their own contacts and address books.

In most cases the fraudulent e-mail states that the victim was on vacation in London (or other overseas location), and was either robbed or had their hotel room burglarized, and requested that a sum of money (varying from $1000.00 to $2500.00) be wired to a recipient in London (or other overseas location) so that the victim can get home to the US. Most of the e-mails are listed as subject: “I Need Your Help Urgently..” or “Stranded in The UK..”.

Residents should be aware of this scam as it is unclear as to how the victim’s e-mail accounts are being compromised. Those who access the internet should ensure that they have a current anti-virus program(s) which includes anti-malware/anti-spyware protection, and that they regularly update their virus protection.

If you believe you have been a victim of this scam you are asked to contact the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Financial Crimes Unit at 703-777-0475 or call your local law enforcement agency.

Slam Poet Visits Rust

Poet Beny Blaq will perform at the Rust Library, 380 Old Waterford Road, Leesburg on Wednesday, December 1, at 6:00 p.m. His performance will be followed by open-mic night for Teens.

Slam Poetry Artist, Beny Blaq is the Poet-In-Residence at Busboys and Poets Restaurant in Shirlington. A Brooklyn, NY native, he discovered he had an interest in poetry at the age of 13. Inspired by the art form of poetry and spoken word, which he calls the “greatest forum of expression,” he decided to give his writing life. He has performed and featured nationally at open mic venues and community events and at more than 50 colleges and universities. Beny has conducted writing workshops in public schools, headlined in the play, “Prison Poetry,” at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Washington, DC, and appeared on radio and TV outlets such as BET’s Lyric Café, TV One and WHUR Radio, as well as HBO’s hit series “The Wire.”

Chorus Sings as Coins Go “Ching” for Salvation Army

The sounds of coins dropping into the Salvation Army’s red kettle will be joined with the sounds of male a cappella holiday music at Dulles Town Center at three special appearances over the holiday season.

The Chorus of the Old Dominion, a Loudoun County favorite, will perform traditional and pop holiday music for shoppers on the dates of:

• Friday, Nov. 26
• Saturday, Dec. 4
• Saturday, Dec. 18

The chorus will perform from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. each of those days outside the mall’s north entrance near The Cheesecake Factory restaurant. Dulles Town Center is located on the southeast corner of Routes 7 and 28.

The Salvation Army relies on money raised in the red kettles — in coins, dollars and credit card gifts (and the occasional diamond ring or gold tooth) — to serve in more than 5,000 communities nationwide. The Chorus of the Old Dominion, a barbershop-style vocal music group, will be among the more than 25,000 volunteers spread throughout the country from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve to ring bells and solicit spare change donations from holiday shoppers.

All money raised in the red kettles stays in the community in which it was collected. The Red Kettle Campaign helps Salvation Army serve more than four million people in need during the Christmas season and nearly 30 million individuals year-round.

Jake and the Burtones Rock Franklin Park

Jake and the Burtones are coming to Franklin Park on November 27 at 8:00 p.m.

Formed in the summer of 2008, local string band Jake and the Burtones play originals and American heritage music with infectious energy and tight arrangements. The band is comprised of Josh Cava on mandolin and guitar, Chris Griffin on upright bass, T-mony Griffin on banjo, and Jack Pugh on guitar and vocals. Sample their music at www.myspace.com/jakeandtheburtones.

For more information or to buy tickets, call 540-338-7973.