Peat management

Large consulting firms, usually identified as management consultants, often prepare iadividual chent reports for chemical companies. These consultancys include Anderson Consulting, DeLoitte Touche, McKinsey, Peat Marwick, etc. 

Partly from the fact that less labor is required In managing the operation, whilst a regularity in the pro-. duce is, in some measure, insured, and partly from the circumstance that there always exists a supply of material at hand in every peat district, which would render the expense of removal of furnaces unnecessary when once erected, the system of charring in kilns bos been resorted to with advantage. Furnaces or kilas arc employed near Meaux in France, in UaBt Friesland, and Bohemia, to a considerable extent. 

Hartikainen, T., Ruuskanen, J., and Martikainen, P. J. (2001). Carbon disulfide and hydrogen sulphide removal with a peat biofilter. /. Air Waste Manag. Assoc. 51, 387-392. 

Tab. 4.5 Average phosphorus content in herbage dry matter of growing plant species sampled at the same locations on seven different extensive managed meadows situated on peat soils in Biebrza River Valley in east-north Poland, May 1972...

Dent, F. J. (1986). Southeast Asian coastal peats and their use. An overview. In Proceedings of the Second International Soil Management Workshop. 

Most of the management problems connected with the farming of peat and muck soils that have been in use for several years revolve around water table adjustment, prevention of blowing and fires, and fertilization. These points and others are discussed in some detail by Harmer (1941). 

The data on productivity of cattails are summarized in Table III and are limited by the absence of total productivity data, both above and below ground. Some of the best data were collected in Minnesota as summarized in Table IV, which shows total, above, and below ground production. It should be noted that natural stands can have as high, or higher, total productivities than managed (fertilized) plots. Peat soils had somewhat lower productivities. In late summer, shoot dry weight reaches a maximum, and roots start accumulating photosynthate. Productivities of 40 t/ha-yr have been estimated for cattails in Minnesota (51). 

Earlier utilization of the coastal area was out of human instincts and was based on its natural condition. A natmal gulf with perfect shield from violent storms in the outer sea often served as a port for ships looking for protection. Fishery was also restricted to the coastal area. Van de Ven mentioned in his Man-Made Lowlands History of Water Management and Land Reclamation in the Netherlands that in the centuries after 800, the Dutch became the decisive factor in the formation and deformation of the land. The peat areas behind the coast were reclaimed by artificial drainage, and in the newly reclaimed peat areas, both arable farming and animal husbandry were practiced. 

As far as the use of compost is concerned, further environmental benefit is expected from a biowaste management system. The compost produced may be applied in agriculture as fertiliser or as a soil amender, having positive effects on, e.g., peat substitution, partial reduction of chemical fertilisers, carbon sequestration and the reduction of irrigation [23], (see Table 13.2). 

Within about a thousand years the cultivation and draining of the peat lands with wind-driven watermills, that started about 1400 ad, led to a subsidence in the coastal zone which could mount to about five meter. As this process is an indirect result of settlement and land reclamation, it cannot be considered as a proactive measure with regard to water management From about 2000 BP sand barrier aggradations at the coast ended and since 1000 ad coastal erosion started again (De Cans, 2007). 

Bales of waste tyres have been used for many years in large construction projects, and this method of re-use was the subject of a report published by the UK Department of the Enviromnent, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in 2001 [74]. This report reviewed the international literature that was available on baled tyres, in particular the long-term behaviour and stability of the tyres and the metal that binds them together, when used in marine environments (e.g., artificial reefs), watery environments (e.g., flood defence or river management) or acid peat bogs, in order to assess their environmental impact. The scope of the review also included examining baled tyres encased in concrete. As dictated by the waste protocols, tyres may be baled... 

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