Abstract
THERE are about 6,000,000 tons of turf used every year in Ireland, but this quantity is almost in significant in comparison with the total amount, about 4,000,000,000 tons, which can be won from the bogs of the country. The Irish Peat Inquiry Committee, of which the present writer was a member, was appointed to suggest what means should be taken to ascertain the conditions under which the peat could be profitably won, prepared, and used in the most favourably situated localities. The main report of the Com mittee, which is contained in the publications under notice, recommended the purchase by the State of a large bog in which hand and mechanical methods of winning peat could be tried side by side. These tests, would require to be continued over a long period if they were to give trustworthy data, and they would have resulted in the winning of large amounts of peat, for which there would be little prospective market. With the view of decreasing the net expense of the experiments and at the same time of testing, on an adequately large scale, the commercial possibility of utilising peat for the generation of electric power, the Committee suggested the installation of an electric power station on a suitable area of the Bog of Allen, within 25 to 40 miles from Dublin. A portion of this power could be used locally to drive the peat-winning machines or agricultural machinery, in chemi cal industries, such as the manufacture of calcium cyanamide, and for lighting and power purposes in the neighbouring towns. The excess of electric power could be transmitted in bulk to the power station at Dublin.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
RYAN, H. The Exploitation of Irish Peat1. Nature 107, 728–730 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/107728a0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/107728a0