Recently returned from a cruise that included a stop at the Scottish Isle of Lewis. There, too, they harvest peat for cooking and home heating, and though it is frowned upon by the British government, fuel prices have been so high, and that area is so darn cold, that locals do it anyway. Cool to see homes with their “peat stacks” in the yard. In this area, the peat covers the “moors” and is literally hundreds of years old and 3 miters deep, made up mostly of sphagnum moss that grows and decomposes, grows and decomposes, and on and on. Very cool to see.
“the peat covers the “moors” and is literally hundreds of years old and 3 miters deep”
No
Peat forms at 1 mm per year or less. At 1 mm per year it takes 1000 years to form a single meter. 3 metres depth started to form nearly 1000 years before Jesus was born. It’s a fossil resource in it will never be replaced in human time scales , it takes geologic time to lay down peat. And tens of millions of years to turn peat into coal of even lignite grade.
Peat does smell wonderful and it is critical to making a fine Scotch whiskey. I demand single malt Islay in the 18-15 year range and it needs face melting levels of peat.