10.2 Natural Functions of Peatswamps 10.3 Environmental Impacts
of Peat Reclamation Previous chapters have indicated that peat
has many uses. Only on a geological time scale can it be
regarded as a renewable resource 1. Once extracted it can be
used for many industrial purposes and is a raw material for the
production of chemicals. However its most important uses are in
agriculture and as an alternative source of energy. 1 Estimates
of annual peat growth today vary between 0.5 and 1.0 mm and the
subsidence rates of drained peat are of the order of 1.5-3.0 cm
annually. Thus while the subsidence rate is 15 to 30 times the
growth rate, peat cannot be defined as a renewable energy
source.Technological developments make it increasingly more
attractive to use peat and peat products as relatively cheap and
clean fuel. It has a low sulphur and ash content whereas the
carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere by combustion is about
10 percent lower than for coal (Table 34). Combustion is the
conventional way to make en