11 May 2021, 10:25Comments (1)
Peat is a notoriously difficult soil on which to construct developments
, one that has conventionally led to increased construction costs and longer duration of groundworks,
writes Chris Eccles of Redstart Northwest.
There is an increasing awareness of the importance played by peat in the removal of carbon from the atmosphere and its role in biodiversity.
Peat is a huge carbon sink, present across 3% of the world’s surface. It holds more than twice the amount of carbon than all of the world’s forests. If you drain or excavate peat, you release huge amounts of carbon. Each hectare of drained peat will emit as much CO2 in a year as driving three million miles in a petrol car and that will continue for every year while the peat is dried out. On-site relocation of peat into a raised landscaping feature will cause it to dry out, oxygenate and release carbon dioxide for an indefinite period.