I NTERNATIONAL P EAT S OCIETY
- A scientific and technical organization for the study of peatlands and peat -
AN ARTICLE
March 20, 2007
Peat is Acceptable Fuel from a Climate Impact Point of View
The question of whether or not peat is a fossil or a renewable fuel was studied comprehensively
in 2000 when scientists proposed that peat should be referred to as a “slowly renewable fuel”.
In 2006 the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) changed the classification of peat
from fossil fuel to a separate category between fossil and renewable fuels. Peat has now its own
category “peat”.
Peatlands globally are major stores of carbon. Peatlands are also vital environmental regulators.
Peatlands are analogous to living organisms because they grow, mature and may even die.
Peat should not be equated with lignite and coal. Coal was formed by plant remains that were
compacted, hardened, chemically altered by heat and pressure after the original organic material
was buried under thick layers of sedimentary material. The greatest coal forming period was 280
to 345 million years ago. Lignite is brown or soft coal, which was formed mainly 2 - 66 million
years ago.
Peat is the partly decomposed remains of the biomass that was produced, mostly by plants, on
waterlogged substrates. Peat harvested today in Northern hemisphere was formed during the
Holocene which is the present geological epoch after the retreat of the glaciers once covering
most of Europe more than 10.000 years ago.
Peat used for fuel consists of various peat layers with different ages. The above-peat biomass
(sedges, mosses, shrubs and trees) is milled and mixed with the upper peat layer in the
preparation of the production field. The surface part of peat below the living ground layer, being
less than 300 years old, amounts to 10% of the total peat carbon volume on an average according
to a Finnish study. The deeper and basal parts of the peat are thousands of years old.
Peatlands and peat are growing
The total area of peatlands in Europe is estimated at 515.000 km2. Agriculture has been the main
user of peatlands with an estimated 125.000 km2 of peatlands used throughout history. Forestry is
the second largest usage of peatlands. The total production area for fuel peat in the EU amounts
to 2,000 km2 being 0.4% of total peatland area.
The annual harvested peat in the world equals to about 15 million tonnes of carbon. The present
sequestration rate of carbon in all mires of the globe is estimated at 40 - 70 million tonnes
annually, thus exceeding the annual use of peat by 3 - 6 times.
The Geological Survey of Finland studied the Finnish peat reserves and found out that the
country’s peat resources in 2000 equalled those of 1950 in spite of historical and today’s
widespread use for agriculture, forestry and energy.
Many peatlands in Europe, which were drained and used for agriculture and forestry in the past
are now sources of greenhouse gases owing to degradation and oxidation of the unsaturated peat
Vapaudenkatu 12, FIN-40100 Jyväskylä, Finland
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layer. These areas could be transformed relatively easily to carbon sinks by means of restoring
them to peat-forming mires, by reclaiming them to forests or by planting energy crops.
The possibility to reuse energy peat production sites as new carbon sinks is another difference
between peatlands on one and coal mines and oil wells on the other side. This difference is
clearly demonstrated by life cycle analyses.
The concept of life cycle analysis is used to compare the climate impact of the use of peat in
energy production, starting from various peatland types and ending the cycle with different afteruse alternatives. A recent Finnish report concluded that the climate impact of peat per energy
unit is, over a 300 years’ perspective, about 10% of the impact of coal, if the peat is produced
from former agricultural areas. Slightly more than half of the impact of coal is seen, if peat is
produced from fertile areas drained for forestry. Similar and even minor climate impact of past
use is reported by Swedish study.
Wise use is needed
The IPS has combined with International Mire Conservation Group to develop a procedure for
the reasoned and wise use of peat and peatlands globally. This involves sound advice for the peat
industry that, in turn, has to follow the ‘wise use’ approach. This means that most of the
remaining peat bogs in Europe will not be utilised by the peat industry and those that are used
shall have after use plans to be implemented at the industry’s expense. In most cases previous
extraction sites are destined to become CO2 sinks again.
In conclusion, in order to put CO2 emissions into context, it is important to emphasise that most
of the carbon liberated from peatlands in the world today is taking place in tropical Southeast
Asia. In 1997, 2900-8500 million tonnes CO2 were released to the atmosphere as a result of forest
and peat fires in Indonesia in only 4 months.
During last ten years it is estimated that an average of around 2000 million tonnes of CO2 is
released every year from peatland in Southeast Asia as a result of peatland deforestation, drainage,
degradation and fire. This is equivalent to about 30% of global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels.
The European Union should focus especially on wise use of tropical peatlands in agriculture and
forestry in order to prevent senseless release of CO2 in to the atmosphere.
The IPS takes the stand that peat is a much more acceptable fuel from a climate impact point of
view than fossil fuels and peat can be used in a wise way for the benefit of mankind now and in
the future.
Professor Markku Mäkelä
President of the International Peat Society IPS
The International Peat Society IPS is an international organization of scientific, industrial and
regulatory stakeholders. It is dedicated to fostering the advancement, exchange and
communication of scientific, technical and social knowledge and understanding for the wise use
of peatlands and peat. The article is based on letter sent to European Union Commission. The
letter with references can be downloaded from www.peatsociety.org
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