How sustainable is the use of peat for commercial energy production?

The sustainability argument that more peat grows in Finland than is used do es not hold. On designated peatlands, growth is about 85 times slower than peat use; growth elsewhere in Finland does not add to available resources. Claiming undisturbed peatlands as carbon sinks for sustainable peat use is also misleading as anthropogenic carbon sources require additional sinks, n ot natural ones. Undisturbed peatlands usually emit significant quantities of methane. About 57 000 km(2) of forestry drained peatlands now have effec tively stopped emitting methane, and temporarily accumulate more carbon ann ually than earlier. These greenhouse reducing aspects are only modestly com pensated or 'used' by emissions from peat used for energy. However, as fore sts mature and the peat underneath continues to oxidise, the new carbon sin k will eventually turn into a carbon source. Multiple claims of this very s ame anthropogenic carbon sink (perhaps by the peat, paper and timber indust ry), i.e. double counting, may be avoided by certifying these sinks. After peat harvesting (liberating in the order of 375 kg atmospheric carbon per m (2)), wood in a production/harvest cycle may be grown (at 0.1 kgC/m(2) per a) on the now available area, as a renewable energy source. These numbers i ndicate the slow rate at which these cycles, that are in principle carbon n eutral in themselves, help compensate for the carbon emissions from the ear lier use of peat by avoiding the emissions of fossil fuels otherwise used. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.