Viability Sees Oportunities in Carbon Legislation

on Sep 28 in Viability in the News

Not just a threat?
Cap and trade could lead to revenue opportunities for industry

By Joe Boomgaard
MiBiz, Sept. 28, 2008

MUSKEGON – Many manufacturers and other business groups have spoken out against the American Clean Energy and Security bill, but they’re missing the boat on some potentially lucrative business opportunities, according to presenters at a recent energy conference.

“Everyone views (cap and trade) as a threat, and we want to change that. Everyone has an opportunity,” said Kyle Denning, carbon sales manager at Viability LLC, a Holland-based carbon management services company. “You need to take the science and turn that into a business opportunity.”

The proposed carbon cap and trade program will affect only about 13,000 facilities nationwide, said Dan Kuipers, carbon specialist at Viability. Included in that list are the largest emitters of carbon dioxide, mainly power plants and other generation facilities. Under the current proposals, the cap and trade regulation would only affect facilities that emit more than 25,000 tons of CO2 per year —”a huge number,” according to Kuipers. One Viability client with a heating bill in the hundreds of thousands of dollars only emits 15,000 tons per year, he added. His “gut feeling” is that any proposed regulations will directly impact “close to zero” businesses in West Michigan.