Peat is made from decaying plants, bushes and grasses in water logged and acidic conditions. It regenerates very slowly and 6 inches of peat is around 1,000 years old! Peatland can be over 10 meters deep, holding 16 million tonnes of carbon. This is a photo of mechanically harvested peat, once cut it can take 2 to 4 weeks to dry before it can be used on a fire. Peat machines can cut enough peat in 1 hour to fuel a house fire for 6 months.
Peat is used in the making of whisky on Islay, and the Maltings uses around 2.5 thousand ton of peat per year to smoke the barley to make whisky.
