Decreasing energy consumption in data centers, mostly with the prospect of a federal carbon tax, is approaching dealer to discover a wide range of ideas.

HP engineers speaks that biogas might, be reason, it present a fresh alternative energy advance for IT managers.

Researchers at Hewlett Packard Co.'s HP Labs obtained a paper on using cow compost from dairy farms and cattle feedlots and additional "digested farm waste" to produce electricity to an American Society of Mechanical Engineers conference held this week.

In the paper, the investigate team worked so as to "a hypothetical farm of 10,000 dairy cows" might power a 1 MW data center or on the order of 1,000 servers.

It's just an idea drowned out on paper by a investigate team; no display project has yet been planned. "I've not yet submitted a buying order for cows," said, an HP researcher, in an e-mail on early Wednesday,

Afterward today, as the paper involved more and more attention, Christian sent a follow-up e-mail noting that HP labs had since established two inquirers about building a demonstration project. "The reply has been fairly serious," he said.