Alternative Energy Associate

Hours: 350 / Access Length: 12 Months / Delivery: Open, Mentor Supported
Retail Price: $2,665.00

Course Overview:

Become an Alternative Energy Specialist and learn ways to help conserve, reduce, reuse, recycle, and thus minimize our impact on the planet. Through this “entry-level” green course you will learn that even small changes make a difference and that going green is good for our health, the planet, and even our budgets.

If you are concerned about our energy future you will want to learn about the many aspects of the energy value chain:

• Oil and natural gas
• Coal
• Fossil fuels and the greenhouse effect
• Energy from water
• Biomass
• Solar energy
• Geothermal energy
• Wind energy
• Nuclear energy
• Electricity
• Energy storage
• Transportation
• Housing
• Smart energy consumption
• Hydrogen

Armed with the knowledge from this course you can form educated and informed opinions on the future of energy and its impact on the economy, health, and the environment.

As an Alternative Energy Specialist you will discover how to establish your business as a green business. You can become a Green Consultant and help others by exploring environmentally-friendly business opportunities to choosing eco-friendly means of production. Learn business basics with a green twist including financing, office setup, day-to-day operations and so much more!

After completing this course, you should be able to:

• Comprehend the core elements of green
• Identify strategies for offsetting your energy consumption
• Identify ways to buy local and buy organic
• Comprehend the basics of energy and thermodynamics
• Identify the various sources of energy and their specific features

Have you ever eaten a Mrs. Fields cookie? Used an Apple computer? Listened to a hip-hop CD? Entrepreneurs brought these products to your world. People that start their own businesses and work for themselves are called entrepreneurs. For an entrepreneur the sky is the limit as far as earnings are concerned. An entrepreneur is someone who's recognized an opportunity to start a business that other people may not have noticed -- and jumps at it skillfully. Entrepreneurs can shape and create an opportunity where others see little or nothing -- or see it too early or too late.

This “Start Your Own Business” class will help you create the business you want. Throughout this course you will be working on your business plan and creating a quick comprehensive overview of the elements you want in your new business.

After completing this course, you should be able to:

• Comprehend entrepreneurship and opportunity
• Identify the steps for developing a business plan and marketing strategy
• Identify methods for managing costs and forming a financing strategy
• Comprehend commercial law and the importance of contracts
• Identify strategies for growing your business and eventually selling it

Course Outline:

Alternative Energy Specialist Module 1
Picture Yourself Going Green

• What is Green?
• Ten Simple Steps
• Green Your Home
• The Air We Breathe
• Waste Not: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
• Greening Your Home Office
• Green Your Energy
• The History of Energy
• Buying Clean Power Locally
• Offsetting Your Energy Use
• Green Your Appetite
• The Pesticide Proliferation
• Going Local, Going Organic
• Green Your Yard
• Fertilizers, Herbicides, and Pesticides
• Conserving Water

Alternative Energy Specialist Module 2
Green Your Life

• Green Your Wardrobe
• Genetically Engineered Cotton
• Clothing Production & Chemicals
• Green is Beautiful
• Green House cleaning
• Personal Care Products
• Green Your Transportation
• Why Carbon Emissions Matter
• Fine-Tuning for Better Gas Mileage
• Green Your Travel
• Choosing Ecotourism
• Supporting Green Businesses
• Eco Kids and Green Pets
• Healthy Nursery or Bedroom
• Choosing Natural Pet Food Options
• Five Ways to Go UberGreen

Alternative Energy Specialist Module 3
Understanding Energy

• We Need Energy
• Primary and Secondary energy
• Energy and First Law of Thermodynamics
• Entropy and Second Law of Thermodynamics
• Energy Sources We Use
• Oil and Natural Gas
• Properties of Hydrocarbons
• Oil Fields
• Coal: Fossil Fuel of the Future
• Classification of Coals
• Coal Combustion for Power Generation
• Coal-to-Liquid Technologies
• Fossil Fuels and Greenhouse Effect
• Weather and Climate
• Anthropogenic Emissions
• Kyoto Protocol

Alternative Energy Specialist Module 4
Energy Options

• Hydropower
• Dams and Diversions
• Small-Scale Hydropower
• Energy from the Ocean
• Marine Current Energy
• Osmotic Energy
• Producing Biomass
• Direct Combustion Technologies
• Biomass and the Environmental Impact
• Biofuels
• Solar Energy
• Thermal Solar Energy
• Concentrated Solar Power Plants
• Photovoltaic Systems
• Geothermal Energy
• Wind Energy

Alternative Energy Specialist Module 5
Electricity & Transportation

• Nuclear Energy
• Uses of Nuclear Energy
• Thermonuclear Energy
• Electricity: Smart Use of Energy
• Energy Sources for Electricity Production
• From Mechanical Energy to Consumer
• Energy Storage
• Weak Points of Energy Supply Chain
• Large-Quantity Storage Technologies
• Thermal Energy Storage
• Underground Energy Storage
• History of Transportation
• Energy and Transportation
• CO₂ Emissions
• Hybrid & Electric Vehicles

Alternative Energy Specialist Module 6
Smart Energy Consumption

• Toward More Efficient Housing
• Different Regions, Different Solutions
• Bioclimatic Architecture
• Energy Use in a Household
• Improving the Way We Consume Energy
• Cogeneration
• Hydrogen
• Production to Distribution
• Hydrogen: Energetic Applications
• Fundamentals of Fuel Cells
• Direct Combined Heat and Power
• Hydrogen Safety

Alternative Energy Specialist Module 7
Your Own Green Business

• What Does “Green” Mean?
• Green Business Decisions
• Customers and Market Research
• Building a Green Business
• Green Business Equipment and Furniture
• Figuring Out Your Costs
• Getting Green Financing
• Making Your Way in a Greener World
• Your Green Team & Community
• Spreading the Green Word
• Green Marketing, Promotion & Advertising
• Social Responsibility
• Maintaining Positive Green Habits
• Green Business Resources

Start Your Own Business Module 1     
Entrepreneurial Pathways

• Defining Entrepreneurship
• What Entrepreneurs Do
• Free Enterprise Economies
• Finding & Evaluating Opportunity
• Examining Profits
• Creating Business from Opportunity
• Creating a Feasibility Analysis
• Developing a Business Plan
• Defining Your Business
• Analyzing Your Competitive Advantage
• Viability Testing
• Valuing a Business

Start Your Own Business Module 2  
Integrated Marketing

• Exploring Your Market
• Marketing vs. Selling
• Market Research
• Market Segments
• Positioning Your Product or Service
• Developing Your Marketing Plan
• Marketing Mix
• Pricing Your Products
• Breakeven Analysis
• Smart Selling
• Effective Customer Service
• Principles of Selling
• Successful Sales Calls
• Customer Relationship Management

Start Your Own Business Module 3      
Cost Analysis

• Understanding & Managing Costs
• Identify Required Investment
• Analyze Fixed Operating Costs
• Calculate Gross Profit
• Financial Record Keeping
• Financial Statements
• Income Statements
• Examining a Balance Sheet
• Financial Ratio Analysis
• Calculating Return on Investment
• Same-Size Analysis
• Quick, Current & Debt Ratios

Start Your Own Business Module 4    
Financing Strategy

• Cash Flow Management
• Cash vs. Profits
• Cash Flow Statement
• Cash Budget
• Taxes
• Filing Tax Returns
• Financing Preferences
• Types of Business Financing
• Debt vs. Equity Financing
• Identifying Sources of Capital
• Stocks & Bonds as Investments

Start Your Own Business Module 5   
Operating For Success

• Addressing Legal Issues
• Managing Risk
• Business Legal Structures
• Contracts
• Commercial Law
• Intellectual Property
• Protecting Tangible Assets
• Operations in a Business
• Production-Distribution Chain
• Supply Chain Management
• Managing Suppliers
• Managing Inventory
• Facilities Location & Design

Start Your Own Business Module 6
Growing Your Business

• Management
• 10 Basic Tasks Handled by Managers
• Leadership Styles
• Organizational Cultures
• Organizational Structure
• Human Resources Management
• Ethical Leadership
• Incorporating Social Responsibility
• Ethical Practices
• Growing Your Business
• Franchising
• Licensing
• Cashing in Your Brand
• Methods for Valuing a Business

All necessary materials are included.

System Requirements:

• Cable and DSL internet connections are recommended for the best experience.

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 2 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone (Webinar / Live Online sessions)

• Microsoft Windows 7 or 10 (Home, Pro)
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is denoted in the above course outline.