Knowra Peat extraction Peat extraction Peat extraction removes accumulated, partly decomposed plant material from peatlands for fuel, horticulture, and other uses. It can involve cutting blocks or mechanically harvesting and milling peat.
Turf cutting : A method of cutting peat into blocks that are dried and burned as fuel. Traditional hand-cutting removes discrete blocks, leaving a distinctive pattern of cut faces.
Peat fuel : Peat burned as a solid fuel for heating or electricity generation. Domestic and commercial fuel use has historically driven peat cutting in many regions.
Peatland degradation : The decline of a peatland's ecological condition and capacity to maintain peat-forming processes. Removal and drainage damage habitats and interrupt the conditions needed for peat accumulation.
Peat-free compost : A growing medium made without peat, using materials such as coir, bark, or composted green waste. It can replace horticultural peat and reduce demand for extraction.
Milled peat : Peat harvested by milling the surface layer into loose particles for drying and collection. Industrial extraction often uses this surface-milling method to produce horticultural peat.
Horticultural peat : Peat used as a growing medium or soil amendment in gardening and commercial horticulture. Horticulture is a major market for extracted peat, especially milled material.
Carbon dioxide emissions from peatlands : Carbon dioxide released when peat carbon oxidizes, burns, or is otherwise exposed to decomposition. Drained and disturbed extraction sites can release carbon stored over millennia.
Sphagnum farming : The cultivation of Sphagnum moss as a renewable source of material for growing media. It offers a potential alternative supply to peat removed from natural bogs.
Drainage of peatlands : The lowering or diversion of water from peatlands through ditches, channels, or pumping. Drainage dries extraction areas and makes peat accessible, while altering wetland hydrology.
Peat briquette : A compressed block of dried peat made for use as fuel. Briquettes are a processed fuel product made from extracted peat.
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