PEAT 



507 



content and water-holding capacity, a condition 

 which is indicative of a high degree of decomposi- 

 tion. 



THE WORLD PEAT INDUSTRY 



Peat bogs are estimated to make up about 375 

 million acres of the world's land surface (Tibbetts, 

 1968, p. 8). Almost 80 percent of this peatland is 

 within the boundaries of the U.S.S.R., Finland, and 

 Canada, more than 60 percent being in the U.S.S.R. 

 alone. According to information available in 1963, 

 the rest of the world's resources are largely in the 

 United States, East and West Germany, Great 

 Britain and Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Indonesia, Nor- 

 way, Cuba, Japan, Denmark, Italy, and France (table 

 97). 



Table 97. — Location of the world's peat resources, 1963 



[Source: Tibbetts, 1968] 



Percentage 

 oj world 



U.S.S.R. 60.8 



Finland 9.5 



Canada 9.1 



U.S.A. 5.0 



Germany (East & West) 3.5 



Great Britain and Ireland 3.5 



Sweden 3.4 



Poland 2.3 



Indonesia 0.9 



Norway .7 



Cuba .3 



Japan .2 



Denmark .08 



Italy .08 



France .08 



Other countries .56 



On the basis of available information, the U.S.S.R. 

 accounts for 95 percent of the world's peat produc- 

 tion, which was estimated in 1970 to be more than 

 217 million short tons per year, an increase of 7 

 percent over the estimated world output for 1969 

 (Sheridan, 1971b). Production by countries in that 

 year is listed in table 98. Although fourth in world 

 production after the U.S.S.R., Ireland, and West Ger- 

 many, the United States produced only 0.2 percent 

 of the world total in that year. 



Only about 32 percent of the world's peat produc- 

 tion is used for fuel, much of this being used for 

 the generation of electric power, chiefly in the 

 U.S.S.R. and Ireland. The generating capacity of 

 present peat-fired power plants in Ireland is 387.5 

 megawatts. Some peat is used in West Germany 

 and Finland for fuel, but this use is declining. 



Most of the remaining 68 percent of the world's 

 peat production is used for agricultural purposes; 

 various grades of peat are produced for the ameliora- 

 tion of mineral soils. Other uses of peat include 



Table 98. — World peat production in 1970 



[Source: Sheridan, 1971b] 



Thousand 

 short 

 tons 



U.S.S.R. 206,462 



Ireland 7,566 



West Germany 1,467 



United States 517 



Netherlands 440 



Canada 317 



Finland 255 



Sweden 138 



France 80 



Japan 80 



Hungary 72 



Israel 22 



Poland 22 



Norway 17 



Korea 10 



Denmark 6 



Total 217,471 



horticultural applications, as in the United States, 

 Canada, and most countries of Europe; the manu- 

 facture of thermal insulating materials and chemi- 

 cals in the U.S.S.R.; the making of peat planting 

 pots in Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Czechoslovakia, 

 Poland, and Japan; the production of activated car- 

 bon in the Netherlands; the distilling of whisky in 

 Scotland; and uses in health spas, curative water, 

 cosmetics, and tonics in Austria. 



THE U.S. PEAT INDUSTRY 



The use of peat in the United States for agricul- 

 tural purposes began about 1904, when 12 compa- 

 nies produced a few thousand tons of peat annually. 

 By 1971, peat was being extracted at 122 operations, 

 where 120 companies produced 516,825 short tons 

 (Sheridan, 1971a). In 1971, peat was produced in 

 24 States (see fig. 62 )» but 8 States bordering the 

 Great Lakes had more than half the active pits. 

 Michigan, with 20 had the largest number of opera- 

 tions, followed by Colorado, with 15 ; Ohio and Penn- 

 sylvania, with 11 each; Washington, with 9; and 

 Florida and Minnesota, with 8 each. Thirty-seven 

 plants produced moss peat, 39 plants produced reed- 

 sedge peat, and 33 plants produced humus. In addi- 

 tion to plants producing these types of peat, 13 

 plants produced two or all three types. Peat pro- 

 duced in the United States in 1970, by types, is 

 shown in table 99. 



Commercial sales of peat for 1970 totaled 525,603 

 short tons valued at $5,986,000, averaging $11.39 

 per ton (Sheridan, 1971a). Table 99 shows produc- 

 tion of peat by types, and table 100 shows production 

 and sales of peat by States in 1970. In addition, 

 283,211 short tons valued at $13,502,000 were im- 

 ported, chiefly from Canada and West Germany, as 

 shown in table 101. 



