The domain name CO2.com is going to hit the auction block at the Epik.com Domain Developers Conference.

From a press release from Epik today:

“CO2.com, is the chemical formula for Carbon Dioxide, a gas emitted by gas-combustion engines, refrigerants, welding, pharmaceutical and chemical processing, oil recovery and commercial agricultural and biological applications. CO2 emissions are at the center of the global controversy concerning the rise in greenhouse gases, expansion of atmospheric reduction and global warming”

“There is a lot of buzz about this domain name. Analysts from both sides agree on the fairness of the auction format,” says Rob Monster, Chairman and CEO of Epik.com. “There are environmental organizations who would benefit greatly from the exposure of owning this domain name for their cause. However, based on the wishes of the current owner, it is developed as an e-commerce website. If a commercial business or domain investor purchases it, they will realize an immediate return on investment. It’s going to be a great auction and anyone can win,” says Monster.”

“The auction date of September 16 happens to overlap with International Ozone Day”

“International Ozone Day was born out of the Montreal Protocol, a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. The treaty was opened for signature on September 16, 1987, and is now an International holiday. Other recent events surrounding CO2 include the Kyoto Treaty Offset Projects and quality controls on CO2 credits from industrial gas projects created through the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism.”

“This domain is relevant to a number of potential buyers because the commercial and environmental target audiences are so large. The website ranks on the first page of all major search engines for the generic term CO2, says Jay Lohmann,” Founder of TagTeam Creative, an Internet Marketing Firm in Dallas. “There are roughly 90,000 global searches per month for “CO2”. This indicates people are searching for information about CO2, possibly as it relates to the ozone controversy.  In contrast, there are over 100,000 global searches combined for CO2-related products such as regulators, lasers, tanks, diffusers, cartridges, cylinders, bottles, paintball, etc. In addition to the significant, active interest in the search term, owning the descriptive domain name CO2.com has the inherent advantages of subject relevancy, industry authority, brand recall and search engine rankings,” says Lohmann.

“Interested parties can participate in the live auction in-person or, online through a real-time Internet interface. Parties interested in submitting a Proxy Bid can contact Epik.com directly for more information and instructions.”

The domain will be  featured at auction on September 16, starting at 1:30 pm at the Bell Harbor Conference Center Bay Auditorium in Seattle. The auction is part of the inaugural Epik.com Domain Developers Conference being held Sept. 15 – 17 in Seattle at the Edgewater Hotel.  The event is open to the public.

“The Epik.com Domain Developers website auction will feature over 300 revenue-producing businesses built on the Epik platform including ETF.com, AbdominalTrainer.com, Collision.com, Complain.com, Haircare.com, HardDrives.com, Heroine.com, Maid.com, HDProjector.com, Poster.com, Spoons.com, WirelessHeadphone.com, WiFi.com and hundreds more. Auction management is handled by Moniker® (www.moniker.com) and SnapNames® (www.snapnames.com), both Oversee.net® companies and providers of domain name registration, management, monetization and brokerage services, to provide a live and online auction of web sites at their inaugural conference.”

Conference details can be found at: http://www.Epik.com/Conf

A reserve price was not included in the press release.