
Why Peat-Free Gardening Is Essential for the Environment - RaleighCity
https://seednsow.co.uk/blogs/news/why-peat-free-gardening-is-essential-for-the-environment
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aliswe
"Peat bogs are one of the most important carbon stores, often referred to as
carbon sinks. When peat is removed, this quickly releases a large volume of
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming."

It does? How does harvesting peat release CO2 into the athmosphere? Didn't get
that ... Not that I am advocating the use of peat nor its depletion in its
natural environment by industrial harvesting, I don't. I don't like peat. But
I really think that a lot of the rethoric and reasoning is dumbed down in
these parts of the internet. Isn't peat used to ultimately grow plants,
perhaps the most important carbon sink? Do we know 100% that this is a
CO2-positive venture?

While not strictly related this reminds me of the strange case of "BioChar" ie
burning wood (!) to inoculate in the ground, because of its magical
properties. Ugh ... The scientific data on BioChar is practically non-
existent, yet its advocates are almost fanatical and furthermore 100% positive
that the measures they take are going to be CO2-negative.

~~~
el_oni
> How does harvesting peat release CO2 into the athmosphere?

Peat forms in bogs and the plant matter within is decomposing under specific
anearobic conditions. When harvested the microorganisms contained within go
from anaerobic to aerobic conditions. Under aerobic conditions the continued
decomposition of the plant matter releases CO2.

Addressing the comment below, just exposing something to the air doesnt make
it evaporate into CO2, but add bacteria and fungi and it will be metabolised
by them, releasing CO2

~~~
DiabloD3
Yeah, but the problem is, thats what bacteria and fungi do, and they do it for
all plant matter. Then, afterwards, CO2 goes back into the plants, which they
deposit in the soil as carbon, either through their roots, or through dying
off.

Life on Earth produces CO2, and eats CO2. Without this cycle, it'd the Oxygen
Holocaust again. CO2 levels vary over vast time periods naturally, and peat,
and its analogs through time, don't really play a big role here.

What anti-peat people do is make you forget one important thing: we can renew
peat as fast as we harvest, which means it continually sinks carbon into the
bog as the industry goes through harvest cycles. What _doesn 't_ happen is an
instant CO2 release... most of the CO2 remains locked up in the peat for years
or maybe even decades, while the peat bogs themselves renew it faster than it
decomposes further in our gardens and containers.

What you really want to bitch about is coal and oil. The peat industry is
nothing compared to the amount of CO2 production by those fucks.

~~~
aliswe
Not criticising what you said. But isn't that very close to saying that
composting is releasing CO2? Thing is I don't really get why peat is so
extremely unproportionally badly angled compared to other mechanisms similar
to that what you have just said. To me, there seems to be a hidden bias
somewhere.

~~~
el_oni
Composting does release CO2 if done aerobically, which is ideal. It releases
methane if it is allowed to go anearobic. And methane is a more potent GHG. If
composting at home you are bringing the carbon cycle close to home.

The difference between composting and harvesting peat is that one is a way of
using the decomposed remains of your own plants, vegetables, wood and other
waste, to enrich your soil.

The other is harvesting a natural carbon sink which is at risk of being
destroyed.

As the poster before mentioned, there are sutainable peat sources. But there
are also peatbogs being drained and burned [0].

Changing landuse is one of the drivers of climate change, and its not just
forests that need to be managed, wetlands and swamps do too.

As a species we are pumping a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere maybe we should
think about leaving some carbon in the ground for once.

[0] [https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/as-fires-strangle-
national...](https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/as-fires-strangle-national-
parks-indonesia-struggles-to-restore-peatlands/)

