Unusual Ways to Use Peat

Peat is a useful fossil applied in many areas of human activity. It is primarily used in agriculture but it can also bring its benefits in medicine, biochemistry, cattle breeding, etc.

  • Malt whiskey would not have such a pleasant and unusual taste, if not for peat. It is used when heating a dryer of barley germinated with fuel. Phenols of peat smoke grains and give the drink a “smoked” flavor.
  • In construction, peat is used as a heat insulator. For example, Eskimos spread peat inside yurts in order to maintain heat and not harm nature. As organic material, peat is resistant to biodegradation and moisture.
  • In production, peat is used as a kind of "filter" for drains. In environmental accidents involving emissions of substances (such as oil), peat serves as an adsorbent and gas absorber.
  • Peat is also used in medicine, there are peat deposits of healing mud. This type of mud bath contains a lot of free sulfuric acid, sulfates of iron and aluminum.
  • Thanks to the already mentioned heat-insulating as well as antiseptic properties, bedding for animals is often made from peat at livestock and poultry farms.
  • Due to the widespread use of 3D printers, domestic scientists began to think about the Russian import substitution of cement building mixtures. Recently, a heat-modified peat additive has been developed that will help reduce the cost of cement products for professional printing on a 3D device.
  • But most often, peat is used in agriculture. It is used in producing soil fertilizers, planting mixtures, composts, in mulching and strengthening earth embankments.