Mitigation

Carbon emissions from peat lands

Peat lands are formed by accumulation of vegetation, often to many metres deep over thousands of years. They cover 4% of the Earth’s terrestrial area and store in the order of 500 Billion tons of carbon. Peat land drainage releases this huge and vulnerable carbon store, and therefore is a major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from SE Asian tropical peat lands alone are equivalent to 3 to 8 percent of global emissions from fossil fuel burning.

Deltares activities in this area

For many decades, Deltares has been a leader in lowland water level control in Western Europe and beyond, which contributes to reducing peat lands drainage impacts. Activities include development of operational water management software and drainage system design evaluations, allowing water levels to be kept high in dry periods while preventing flooding in wet periods.

In recent years, Deltares has widened this line of activities to include assessment of carbon emissions under different (water) management scenarios, as well as development of regional development plans placing management of peat land carbon emission mitigation in the wider context of natural and economic resource management. These projects so far focus on SE Asia, where these problems are most severe and solutions most urgently needed, but the concepts apply to any peat land worldwide.