Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Peat Country Notes

United Kingdom

The peatlands of Great Britain cover an area of some 17 500 km², most deposits being in the northern and western regions; Scotland accounts for about 68% of the total area of peat, England for 23% and Wales 9%.

There are about 1 700 km² of peatland in Northern Ireland, mostly located in the western half of the province.

The total UK peatland area is nearly twice that of Ireland, but the extraction of peat is on a very much smaller scale: in Great Britain, commercialised peat extraction takes place on only some 5 400 ha (equivalent to about 0.3% of total peatland). Almost all peat industry output is for the horticultural market; there is, however, still quite extensive (but unquantified) extraction of peat for use as a domestic fuel in the rural parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Anecdotal evidence suggests that peat-cutting for fuel in Scotland has declined in recent years, having been replaced to some extent by purchases of peat briquettes imported from Ireland.

About 20 000 tonnes of air-dried sod peat has been reported by the International Peat Society as being produced for energy purposes in 2002, some of which was exported to Sweden.