From: http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=6944024
Because peat occurs on the surface, harvesting should have very little effect on the contour of the land.^In fact, productive land would be created for crops, trees, wildlife habitats, and lakes and ponds.^
It is estimated that U.S. reserves would yield about 120 billion tons of peat (on the basis of 35 weight percent moisture content).^The energy available from these reserves is estimated to be about 1440 quads (10/sup 15/ Btu), which is equivalent to 240 billion barrels of oil.^Among fossil fuels, this is exceeded only by the energy potential of U.S. coal resources.^
About 90 percent of the reserves are located in Alaska (61.7 billion tons), Minnesota (16.5 billion tons), Michigan (10.3 billion tons), Florida (6.9 billion tons), Wisconsin (6.4 billion tons), Louisiana (4.1 billion tons), and North Carolina (2.7 billion tons).
Impressive.