DataCenterKnowledge has a post on Uptime presentation by Mike Manos on Data Centers CO2 impact.

Manos: Industry Must Prepare for ‘CO2K’
May 19th, 2010 : Rich Miller

Mike Manos of Nokia speaks Tuesday at the Uptime Institute Symposium 2010 in New York.

In calling the data center industry to prepare for carbon regulation, Mike Manos invoked the Y2K crisis of the late 1990s, warning that “CO2K” threatens to be similarly disruptive.

It's great to see Mike Manos use his speaking spot to discuss carbon impact.

Jonathan Koomey supports the same issues.

The impact of a “carbon tax” was also highlighted by data center energy expert Jonathan Koomey, who said the issue is “not on the radar screen” of corporations.

‘A Price for Carbon’
“There will be a price for carbon,” Koomey said in his Monday keynote at Uptime. “We have to start thinking about how that price affects the economics of data centers. Carbon taxes will have an impact on where you locate your data centers.”

Koomey used the framework of the UK’s recently enacted Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) to illustrate the potential impact. At the CRC rate of $19 per ton of carbon emissions, a 130,000 square foot data center with coal-sourced utility power might pay an additional $5 million a year.

“That’s real money,” said Koomey. “If you have a data center in a place that’s all coal, that’s the business risk you’re taking on.”

And Yahoo's Christina Paige chime in too.

Manos’ assessment of the role of data centers was echoed by other speakers at the Uptime event. Yahoo initially bought offsets to address its carbon output, according to Christina Page, the company’s director of Climate and Energy Strategy. But the company soon shifted its focus to improving the energy efficiency of its data centers.

75 Percent of Carbon Footprint
“We quickly realized that 75 percent of our carbon footprint was from data centers,” said Page. “The best opportunities for leadership were in that area as well.”

Facebook is currently catching flack for its coal powered data center in Prineville, OR. Currently the count is up to 442,000 members on English, Spanish, and French facebook pages asking for 100% renewable energy for Facebook.

Start measuring your carbon impact and think about how you can lower your carbon impact.