Restore Wetlands sows seeds in the sterile energy peat

Context / Background information

Facts about Neova’s peat extraction

Neova is Sweden’s largest peat producer, accounting for over 70 per cent of production. Neova operates 65 peat extraction sites. A licence has been issued to extract peat for energy purposes and for no other purpose. These concessions were granted under the Peat Act. All peat can be burnt, but a small amount of other peat, often referred to as ‘cultivated peat’, may be permitted if required to achieve the objective, namely the production of energy or energy peat. 

Återställ Våtmarker has received production data for thirty-one quarries. We have been denied access to data for the others on grounds such as trade secrets, the risk of ‘activism’, etc.

We know for certain that Neova is in breach of its permits at six quarries. According to production data from 2024, Neova is extracting agricultural peat at these sites, for which it does not have a licence. The County Administrative Board has confirmed that Neova is only authorised to extract energy peat. Peat extraction is taking place at Grimsås Moss despite the County Administrative Board’s refusal to amend the concession agreement from energy peat to agricultural peat.

Here are the peat quarries where Neova is extracting agricultural peat under concession agreements for energy peat:

Grimsås Mosse

• Trottagården, Halland
• Bredmossen, Östergötland
• Finnmossen, Västmanland
• Vännmossen, Gävleborg
• Stormyran in Morvallen, Gävleborg
• Karinmossen, Eastern Gävleborg

In addition,

three further quarries produce only horticultural peat, but it is unclear whether we have received sufficient documentation to determine with certainty what production is taking place.

Fifteen quarries produce nothing and have no amended conditions; they are not in breach of the conditions in 2024 but may have produced or may commence production.

We have been refused production data for eighteen quarries. These hold concessions (i.e. the agreement applies only to energy peat); for some, it has been confirmed that they apply only to energy peat, whilst for others this needs to be confirmed with the regulatory authority.

Eleven bogs have been converted to agricultural peat (and hold concessions), meaning they have received approval from the regulatory authority to extract peat for agricultural purposes. This is not permitted according to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s legal interpretation. New agreements must be negotiated under the Environmental Code.

Nine quarries are authorised to produce agricultural peat under the Environmental Code

Facts about peat

Peatlands cover just 3 per cent of the Earth’s land surface but store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined. Peatlands are a type of wetland.

The amount of greenhouse gases emitted from drained peatlands worldwide accounts for as much as 6 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions. That is more than twice the carbon dioxide emissions from global aviation.

Undisturbed or restored peatlands and wetlands teem with life and biodiversity (as many as 800 red-listed species depend on wetlands), they protect against flooding, drought and fires, reduce eutrophication and purify drinking water. 

Greenhouse gas emissions from peat extraction in Sweden exceed those of the entire domestic aviation sector.

Peat is currently used for combustion, soil improvement and animal bedding. When burnt, it is converted directly into carbon dioxide. When used as a soil improver or animal bedding, it breaks down into carbon dioxide over a ten-year period. All peat that is extracted is converted into carbon dioxide.

Neova is the world’s and Sweden’s largest peat producer. Neova AB accounted for over 70 per cent of the peat extracted in Sweden in 2020. The company is owned by the Finnish Neova Group, which extracts peat at 200 sites in Finland, Sweden and Estonia and exports to more than 100 countries. Neova is 51 per cent owned by the Finnish state, with the remainder owned by Finnish municipal heating plants.

Restoring wetlands and halting peat extraction is the quickest, simplest and cheapest way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Sweden.

This conclusion is also reached by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, which believes that the best course of action for society and the climate is to restore drained wetlands and peatlands on a large scale and leave the peat in the ground.

Alarming facts about climate collapse.