The course is being presented in Washington, D.C., and at NETL’s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Morgantown, West Virginia, sites and features visits to key energy production facilities and a designated energy efficient building in Pittsburgh.
The course is designed to prepare participants to advocate for US energy equipment exports to support US jobs, and to understand how electricity reliability supports international partnerships. The course covers information about the entire power grid, demonstrates diverse types of energy generation, and shows how an electric grid functions. Participants will also analyse the structure of the industry worldwide.
In addition to lectures in Washington and at NETL facilities, the course includes: field trips to a natural gas plant, a coal power plant, a nuclear power plant, a wind farm, a hydro-facility, a coal mine, shale-gas fields, and industrial users of energy such as an aluminium manufacturer.
Participants will also visit an office tower designated as a LEED Platinum facility by the Green Buildings Council (USGBC). LEED is a national certification system developed by USGBC to encourage the construction of energy and resource-efficient buildings that are healthy to live in. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Pittsburgh has three LEED buildings: PNC Plaza, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, and Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden.