Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Peat Country Notes

Russian Federation

According to Global Peat Resources, the total area of peatlands is some
568 000 km²; the deposits are widely but unevenly distributed throughout the Federation. The principal peat areas are located in the north-western parts of European Russia, in West Siberia, near the western coast of Kamchatka and in several other far-eastern regions. The Siberian peatlands account for nearly 75% of the Federation total.

Total peat resources are quoted in Global Peat Resources as 186 billion tonnes, second only to Canada's in world terms. Of the total, 11.5 billion tonnes have been the subject of detailed surveys and a further 6.1 billion tonnes have been preliminarily surveyed.

The bulk of current peat production is used for agricultural/horticultural purposes. Peat deposits have been exploited in Russia as a source of industrial fuel for well over a hundred years. During the 1920s, the use of peat for power generation expanded rapidly, such that by 1928 over 40% of Soviet electric power was derived from peat. Peat's share of power generation has been in long-term decline, and since 1980 has amounted to less than 1%.

Approximately 5% of the exploitable peat deposits are used for fuel production, which currently amounts to around 1.5 million tonnes per annum. The main users are CHP plants and briquetting works; most of the residual consumption of peat, whether as such or in the form of briquettes, takes place in the rural residential sector.