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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(82)649 final
Brussels.18thOctober1982
REPORTONTHEBROWNCOALANDPESTINDUSTRIES
INTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITY
\ν(CommunicationfromtheCommission totheCouncil)
t"''.^
X/o7 e.Vsrlf
C0M(82)649final

ν
Report onthe brown coal ana
peat industries inthe
European Community
(Communication bytheCommission totheCouncil )

CONTENTS
Page
ChapterI
ChapterII
ChapterIII
Chapter IV
Chapter VIntroduction
BrownCoalintheCommunity
PeatintheCommunity
TheCommunity'sactivities
inrespectofbrowncoal
andpeat
Conclusions1
3
12
18
20
TABLES
AnnexA General information onthe
production anduseofbrown
coal
AnnexB Generalinformation onthe
production anduseofpeat

CHAPTER I
Introduction
During the787th Council meeting (onenergy matters )held on13July 1982
itwaspointed outduring thediscussion onthepart tobeplayed bycoal
intheCommunity energy strategy ,that theenergy-policy debate should also
include theother solid fuels ,i.e. brown coal andpeat .TheCommission
expressed itsreadiness onthis occasion toprovide theCouncil with a
report onbrown coal andpeat .This communication contains that report .
When compared with coal intheproduction ofindigenous energy ,andeven more
when viewed against theCommunity 'soverall energy consumption ,brown coal
andpeat areboth disproportionately insignificant .In1981 ,these two
fuels represented anenergy equivalent of32.2 million toe ,ofwhich brown
coal accounted for 31.2million tonnes .Overall brown coal accounted for
6.4$ andpeat 0.2$ oftheCommunity 'sprimary energy production (EUR10).
Therelative percentages oftheCommunity 'sprimary energy consumption
accounted forbythese fuels were 3^4$ and0.1$ .There isnotrade inbrown
coal andpeat within theCommunity .Conversely coal accounted for20.4$ of
theEEC'senergy consumption and31»2$ ofindigenous energy production (1981 ).
This and the fact that none ofthe sixfounder members oftheEuropean Coal
and Steel Community haseconomically viable reserves ofpeat explains why
Annex ItotheECSC Treaty hasrestricted theactivities oftheHigh Authority
tocoal andcoal products .Furthermore ,brown coal andpeat have notechnical
oreconomic links with iron andsteel production .Therefore ,theactivities
oftheHigh Authority only extend tobrown coal briquettes because they
compete with coal onthehome heating market ,whereas rawbrown coal for
electricity generation only falls within thejurisdication oftheECSC Execu­
tive ,according toSection 3inAnnex I,where "this ismade necessary asa
result oftangible disruptions ofthefuel market caused byit".Hitherto ,
this hasnotbeen thecase .Inorder tosimplify matters ,itcanthus be
stated ,that brown coal andpeat arecovered bytheTreaty establishing
theEuropean Economic Community and aretobetreated onthe same footing
asallother branches ofindustry .

-2-
(4)Therelativeimportance ofbrowncoalandpeatintheCommunity'senergy
supplies mentioned aboveshouldnothowevercreatethefalseimpression that
thetwoindustries involvedareonly"quantit€snfigligeables ",or,inother
words,insignificant .InsomeMemberStates,bothfuelsareconsiderably
important energysources.Energypricetrendsandthegrowinginsecurity of
oilsupplies nowguarantee growinginterest inbrowncoalandpeatasenergy
sources,especially sincetheyareabundant andrelatively cheaptoextract.
Sincetherelevant countries alsocountheavilyuponbothindustries forregional
development purposes,theirimportance totheCommunity asawholeshould
notbeunder-estimated .
(5)Therestofthisreportgivesinformation ontheproduction anduseofbrown
coal(il)andpeat(ill)ineachoftheCommunity'sMemberStates.ChapterIV
reports ontheextenttowhichtheCommunity isalreadyinvolved inthe
development ofbothindustries .Chapter Vcontains theconclusions ,while
Tables1-7containstatistical reviewsofexisting browncoalandpeat
reserves ,plusproduction andconsumption figures.Annexes AandBprovide
information onthenatureofbrowncoalandpeat,andhowtheyarebothwon
andused.

-3-
CHAPTERII
BrownCoalintheCommunity
1.Browncoaldeposits
(6)TherearebrowncoaldepositsinsixMemberStatesof1heCommunity (see
Table1intheAnnex).
Noinformation isgivenforDenmark andtheNetherlands asbrowncoal
production wasabandoned thereseveralyearsagobecausethedeposits
wereuneconomical towork.
Thereare60thousandmilliontonnesofgeological browncoalinfourother
MemberStates(DfGR,P,I)ofwhichabout40thousandmilliontonnesare
considered tobeeconomically workable.About$<J$>ofthedepositsliewithin
theFederalRepublic ofGermany,whiletheRhineland fieldcontainsthe
largestcontinuous browncoaldepositinEurope.
2.UseoftheCommunity'sbrowncoaldeposits
(7)In1981,atotalof163milliontonnesofbrowncoalwereextracted in
theCommunity'\thebreakdownamongtheindividualcountriesbeingasfollows
19S0 1981Miot(t=t)
FederalRepublicofGermany 129.9 130.6
France 2.6 3.0
Greece 23.2 27.1
Italy 1.9 2.0
Total 157.6 162.7
InEurope,thereisalsoabrowncoalminingindustryinSpain.Spanish
browncoalproduction hasincreased veryrapidlyinpastyearsand
amountedto20.8milliontonnesin1981.6.1milliontonnesoftotal
production wereolderbrowncoaland14*7milliontonnesyoungerbrown
coal.98$ofthisbrowncoalisconsumedinpowerplantsandsohelps
tosubstitute oil.

-4-
In1981,roughly31milliontoe(=45milliontee)ofbrowncoalwere
extractedintheCommunity,orinotherwords6.4$oftheCommunity's
overallprimaryenergyproduction .
Inthesameyear,browncoalaccountedfor3«4$oftheCommunity'stotal
energyconsumption .
(8)Theposition andprospectsforbrowncoalminingintheindividual countries
areasfollows :
(a)FEDERALREPUBLIC OFGERMANY
(9)Browncoalisextracted fromfourfieldsintheFederalRepublic :
(Figuresfor1981):
Production
Mt(t=t)Numberof
employees
(annual
average)Shift
output
int(t=t)1)
O/Cratio
Rhineland II9.5 16907 98.6 3.5:1
Helmstedt 4.2 2332 24.2 3.0:1
Hessen 2.5 1298 15.9 2.5:1
Bavaria 4.5 843 5O.4 0.5:1
TOTAL I3O.6 21380 81.5 3.4:1
In1981,totaloutputwasequivalent inenergytermsto26.8milliontoeand
a21$shareintheFederalRepublic'stotalprimaryenergyproduction
(seeTable2inAnnex).
TheaverageoutputpershiftintheFederalRepublic of81.5tbrowncoalis
equivalent to23.9 "teeandisthusaboutsixtimeshigherthanthatfi>rGerman
hardcoalmining.
(10)ThebrowncoalpitsinGermanyareoperatedindependently ,butareinthemain
linkedwithlargeelectricity utilities bymeansofmajorityshareholdings or
single-entity contracts .Thelinkswiththeirparentcompanies confer
^Theo/cratiorepresentstherelationship betweentheamountsofoverburden
andcoalextracted (seeAnnexA,page2,Section5)»

-5-
economic advantages ontheminingcompanies ,e.g.inprocuring thenecessary -
investment resources andintailoring outputandconsumption toelectricity
generation requirements ,etc.
(11)About1.1thousandmillion DM(438million ECU)wereinvestedinGermanbrown
coalminingin1981.Itistobeexpectedthattherateofinvestment willhave
tobesteppedupby20-30$inrealtermsifoutputistobemaintained .
(12)Asregardsprofitability itcanbeseenfromthemanagingboard'sreportsthat
theearningssituation isgenerally good.Indeed,extraction costspertonne
arenotpublished ,butitispointedoutinpressarticlesthatonsomefields
theyliewellbelowthecomparative pricesforoilorimported hardcoal.
(13)Itcantherefore beassumedthattheindividual fieldsofferdiffering prospects
asregardsthefutureofGermanbrowncoalproduction .
Thereserves ontheBavarianfieldaredepleting .Outputwillcontinue todrop
andceasecompletely in1982.Itistobeexpectedthatfutureoutputfromthe
Hessenfieldwillnotincrease ,owingtoshrinking coalreserves.Onthe
Helmstedt field850million DMarebeingspentonopeningupanewdepositof
about40milliontonnes,therebyguaranteeing thatoutputcanbemaintained .
Theproduction structure ofbrowncoalminingintheRhineland isabouttochange
sothatinsteadofthefiveexisting opencastworkings ,therewillbeonly
threeby1995*
Thesemeasureswillensurethatfrom1995»production intheRhineland will
beconcentrated onthefollowing threeopencastpits(millionsoftonnest=t):
Hambach 45-55
45-55
20-25Garzweiler
Inden
TOTAL 110-135

-6-
(14)OutputintheRhineland cannotbeexpanded beyondthatmentioned herebecause
oftheenvironmental impacttobeexpected fromnewpitsandadditional
powerstations.
(15)ThefigurescontainedinTable2intheannexshowthatin1981almost11$
ofallGermanprimaryenergyconsumption derivedfromGermanbrowncoal.
Overwhelmingly (86$),browncoalisconsumedintheformoffeedcoalfor
electricity generation ,whichcouldthusprovideabout26$ofallGermany
electricity production (1981).
(16)About13$oftotalconsumption isintheformoffeedcoalforconversion into
solidfuels.Theconversionproducts:briquettes,coal-dustanddriedcoal^.
together withbrowncoalcoke,areusedinhomesandindustry andarealso
exported (seeTable2intheAnnex).
(17)Itshouldbementioned herethattheFederalGermanbrowncoalindustry–
andinthiscasesolelytheRhineland fields-ispractically theonlyCommunity •
2)producer ofbrowncoalconversion products .Themarketprospects and
researchintoimproving productqualitymentioned intheAnnex(seepages
6and7)onlyapplytobrowncoalminedintheRhineland .Thesameapplies
totheresearch intobrowncoalgasification andliquefaction .
(18)Overall,thefutureofbrowncoalmininginGermanycanbeconsidered optimistic
sinceitisprofitable toextractanditsproducts andconversion products
areversatile .Virtually nomarketadaptation problems aretobeexpected
sincethelargeparentcompanies areableconstantly tocoordinate consumption
andproduction sincetheythemselves areboththeconsumer andproducer.
1Onlylimitedquantities ofcoaldustanddriedcoalareavailable sincethere
isinadequate production capacity
2)Verysmallamountsofbrowncoalarealsobriquetted inGreece.

-7-
(b)FRANCE
(19)AsshownbythefiguresinTable3intheAnnex,browncoalhasvirtually
nosignificance asanenergysourceinPrance.In1981,browncoalaccounted
for1.7$oftotalprimaryenergyproduction ,0.5$oftotalprimaryenergy
consumption andabout1$oftotalelectricity generation .
(20)InPrance,browncoalisextracted fromtwofields:
(1000t,t=t)
1980 1981
Arjuzanx (Aquitaine ) 1005 1354
Meyreuil (Provence ) 1580 1591
TOTAL 2585 2945
(21)OntheArjuzanxfieldyoungerbrowncoalisextracted fromopencastworkings.
Thereareestimated reserves of40-50milliontonnes,thecalorific value
ofthecoalis8000kj/kganditssulphurcontentis0.4$•Itemergesfrom
pressarticlesthattheminesearnings aregood,andthattheextraction
costsareclaimedtobe50$oftheequivalent oilprice.
(22)Olderbrowncoalisextracted fromdeepworkings ontheMeyreuilfield.
Anew27milliontonneseamhasbeenopenedupbysinking twodeeper
1)shafts,therebyguaranteeing production forthenext15-20years.Up
to1980,theminewasunprofitable andStateaidhadtobeprovidedtocover
operating losses.However,theminemovedbackintoprofitability in1981.
Oneoftheshaftswillextenttoamaximumdepthof1150metres
andthusbethedeepest browncoalmineintheworld1980

-8-
(23)Itcanbeseenfromtheabovethatcoalcancontinuetobeextracted from
bothFrenchbrowncoalfieldsundereconomically satisfactory conditions ,
butnoincrease inbrowncoalproduction shouldbeexpected .
(c)GREECE
(24)TherearethreeopencastbrowncoalfieldsinGreece(1981figures):
Output Shift .\
1000tPayroll output 0/Cratio
(t=t) int(t=i)
Ptolemais 188134000 17 5:1
Aliveri 690 500 •· •·
Megalopolis 7620 1000 26 2:1
TOTAL 271235500- -
^The0/Cratiorepresentstherelativeamountsofover-burden
andcoal
(25)Totalproduction in1981wasequivalent to3.2milliontoe(seeTable4inthe
Annex).Thisisrelatively lowsincethecalorific valueofthebrowncoal
minedatMegalopolis islow.
Ptolemais Megalopolis
Calorificvalue 6300-7500kj/kg 4200kj/kg
Ash 8-10$ 12-15%
Sulphur 0.5-0.6$ 0.8-0.9$
In1981,browncoalaccountedforabout90$ofallGreekprimaryenergy
production ,whichmeansthatapartfromsmallamountsofoilandhydropower ,
itis,inviewofitspotential ,theonlyprimaryenergyvectorthatGreece
canproduceinlargequantities .
(26)Theminingcompanies areoperatedasseparateentities,buttheyaxewholly
ownedbythenationalized Greekelectricity utility,thePublicPowerCorpor­
ation(PPC).Thisguarantees coordination ofbrowncoalproduction and
consumption .Attheendof1981,thePPCemployedabout27000people,
ofwhom5500inmining.InadditiontothePPC,anumberofsmallcompanies
produceAtotalofriughly300000tofbrowncoaleveryyear.

-9-
(27)Thefluctuations incompanyearnings showthatthePPC'selectricity
pricingpolicyissubjecttoGovernment supervision .Permission toraise
electricity pricesisonlygivenreluctantly sothatearnings donotkeep
pacewithcostincreases onayeaj>-by-year "basis,hutarebalanced out
inthelonger-term average.
ItmustbestressedthatbrowncoalisagreatassettotheGreekeconomy,
sinceproduction costs,-whicharenotpublished ,arewaybelowcomparative
pricesforoilorimported hardcoal.
(28)Thecompanyhasreceived noinstructions toreclaimtheworked-out opencast
pits.Suitablelegislation iscurrently beingprepared bytheGreek
Government .
(29)Inviewoftheeconomicadvantages conferred uponGreecebybrowncoal,and
inviewoftheconsiderable reserves ,itisplannedtoboostproduction and
consumption sharply.Prom1981to1990outputwillmorethandouble
Probable developments inGreekbrowncoalproduction
(millionsoftonnes,t=t)
Coalfield 1981 1985 1990
Ptolemais 18.8 35.5 4-0.5
Aliveri (Deep-mined )
Megalopolis
Amynteo
Komnina
TOTAL1981
18.8
0.7
7.61985
35.5
0.5
7.8
0.61)
2)1990
40.5
••
12.5
8.2
4.3
27.1 44.4 65.5
1)Production tostopin1986
2)'Pullproduction tobeginin1986.

-10-
(30)There arealso financial problems affecting notonly mining operations
butalso thecompany asawhole .Investment fortheperiod 1981/90(in
1mining andpower utilities )will be36O000million drachmas (=5»8
thousand million ECU).Since this will be25$self-financed about 75$oftheir
investment must befinanced via outside capital .
(31)Itcanbeseen from Table 4in "the -Annex that in1981 about 94$ofthe
brown coal mined wasconverted into electricity ,which amounted toaround
53$ofallelectricity generated inthecountry .5$of'thebrown coal produced
went toindustry and1$forbriquetting .
(32)Itcanbeassumed that infuture ,theconsumption ofbrown coal inpower
stations could more than double between 1981 and1990 « iscurrently not
planned toexpand theproduction ofbriquettes since there will probably be
nomarket forthem .Theuse ofbrown coal islikely tochange the face of
Greek electricity generation since hydro-power will probably remain constant
inproviding 17-18$ oftheelectricity produced between I98O and1990 »while
theproportion provided bybrown coal islikely toincrease from 46$to
2)82$byreplacing heating oil,whose share would drop from 37$to0$ .
(d)ITALY
(33)InItaly ,brown coal ismined ontwofields :
(1000t,t=t)
1980 1981
Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni
(Arezzo Province ) 1447 1340
Pietrafitta
(Perugia Province ) 463 630
TOTAL 1910 1970
Calculated according totheprices prevailing
'nonuclear power plants ornewhardcoalpower stations areplanned
toenter service before 1990 *

-11-
Theenergy equivalent ofallofthebrown coal produced is0.3million toe
andtherefore 1.7–18.$ ofItaly 'stotal primary energy production
(seeTable 5in "theAnnex ).Brown coal only accounts for0.2$ ofall
primary energy consumption and1$ofelectricity production .
Thepits areowned bythestate-owned Italian electricity company (ENEL )which
uses almost 100$ ofthecoal tosupply thepower stations atSanta Barbara
(Arezzo Province )andPietrafitta (Perugia Province ).Italian brown coal
cansatisfactorily match imported energy prices .
(34)Brown coal isextracted from theopen cast pitatCastelnuovo inArezzo
Province (1.2million t)andfrom thenewAllori field (0.1million t).
TheO/Cratio iscurrently about 7*1 andthere isapayroll of600.
Thecalorific value ofthecoal is8000kj/kg.
(35)InPerugia Province brown coal isextracted from open cast pits atan
0/Cratio of3:1fthepayroll being 180.Thecoal hasarelatively
lowcalorific value of4000-5000kj/kg.
(36)Thereserves inboth ofthepits cansupport long-term extraction at
thepresent rate .Theworked-out opencast pits will bereclaimed for
agricultural use .
(37)Inaddition tothetwofields mentioned above ,Italy hascoal measures in
Sulcis (Sardinia ).Itisintended toresume coal extraction andtogasify
thecoal^\Suitable preliminary workisinprogress .Despite itslow
calorific value ,thecoal isnotbrown butalowquality ,high sulphur
content hard coal (lowrank subbituminous coal ).
According totheplans anannual output of3million tonnes is
considered possible .

-12-
CHAPTER III
Peat inthe Community
1.Peat deposits intheCommunity
(38)Apart from Belgium andLuxembourg there axepeat deposits inallofthe
Member States oftheCommunity ,buttheir size andeconomic significance
vary widely .Table 6intheannex contains overall figures percountry ,
partly broken down according toregion ,without however going into specific
local details .Itshould bepointed out incomparison with therest ofthe
world ,that themost extensive peat beds aretobefound inCanada
(170million hectares ),theUSSR (150million hectares )andtheUSA
(40million hectares ).
(39)Generally speaking peat reserves aremeasured notonly byquantity but
also bytheir extent inhectares .This latter figure issometimes estimated
since not allpeat deposits have actually been measured .Theproblems
involved inquantifying reserves –which sometimes occur intheliterature –
must also bemade clear .Thedepth ofthepeat beds canvary between 3and
10metres sothat accurate calculations areimpossible .InGreece ,there
arepeat beds upto100metres andmore thick .According toestimates ,■the
United Kingdom 'speat deposits (1.6million hectares )contain anenergy
equivalent ofabout 400million toewhile those ofIreland (1.2million
hectares )represent about 300million toe .
(40)Thepeat reserves oftheCommunity asawhole represent aless significant
energy source than other fossil -fuels ,but peatfc economic importance for
individual countries orregions should notbeunderestimated ,aswill be
shown .
2.Use oftheCommunity 'speat deposits
(41)Thepeat industries intheindividual Member States oftheCommunity have
developed indifferent ways .

-13-
Therelatively smallpeatreserves inDenmark,France,Italyandthe
Netherlands areonlyusedforagricultural purposes ,where ,indeedthere
1)isanypeatproduction atall.
InPrance,in1980,only50000tonnesofpeatfuelwereproduced.
Theinsignificance ofthepeatindustry asasourceofenergyinthe
abovecountries willnotchangeinfuture.
Despitetherelatively largedeposits ,peatismainlyproducedfor
2)agricultural purposesintheFederalRepublicofGermany .In1980,
25O000tonnesofburnable peatwereexcavated andlargelyconverted
intocokeandactivated carbon.Thisquantityisofnoimportance in
theenergybalanceoftheFederalRepublic anditmustbeassumedthatit
willnotbepossible tostepuppeatproduction infutureforenvironmental
reasons .
(42)Wewilltherefore discussbelowthethreeMemberStatesoftheCommunity where
eitheralargepeatindustryexists(Ireland)orwheretherearemajorpeat
reserves andapeatindustry relevant totheenergyeconomycoulddevelop
infuture(theUnitedKingdomandGreece).
(a)IRELAOT )
(43)PeatwinninginIrelandismainlyinthehandsofalargeorganization :
BôrdnaMona(BnM).
BnMwasfoundedasaquasi-governmental bodyfinanced byStatecredits
byanactoflawin1946^.TheIrishgovernmenthassomeinfluenceover
theactivities ofthecompany,whichemploysabout6500full-time workers
and1000seasonal workers.Ithashad.decadesofexperience inthe
production anduseofpeat.Thisknow-how couldalsobeusedindeveloping
thepeatindustries oftheothertwoCommunity countries .
1)Forproduction figuresseefootnote 1onpage3,AnnexB
2)Forproduction figuresseefootnote 1onpage3,AnnexB
3)TurfDevelopment Actof1946

-14-
(44)Asaresultofoilpriceincreases ,BnMhasbeenabletoexpand,particularly
since1973/74*InIreland,thepeatexcavatedisabout50%cheaperthan
oil,whileabout60foofoverallproduction costsareduetolabourcharges.
(45)In1981,Irelandproducedroughly4milliontonnes,orabout1milliontoe
ofpeat(SeeTable7intheAnnex),ofwhich3milliontonnesweremachine
cut(withawatercontentofabout50%)and0.8milliontonneswereintheform
ofpeatblocks(35%watercontent).Peatproduction accountsformorethan
40%oftotalprimaryenergyproduction and10$ofprimaryenergyconsumption
inIreland.
(46)Inrecentyears,theproduction capacityoftheBnMhasrisenconstantly ,
therebycreating aneedforfurtherinvestment funds.Becauseofthevery
highinterestrate(21%),financing ofthecompany'sinvestments iscausing
greatdifficulties .Financing ispredominantly fromoutsidecapitalsince
self-financing isrestricted bytheBnM'smodestprofits.
Thecompanymakesadequateprofits,buttheIrishgovernment holdsdown
pricesforpeatandpeatproducts inordertoslowgeneralinflation in
Irelandasmuchaspossible .
(47)Inviewoftheenvironmental problemsderivingfrompeatproduction BnM
isrequiredtoavoiddamagetofloraandfauna.Theoldpeatworkings
arebeingreafforested anddemonstration projects ontheproduction of
biomassareinprogress.
(48)About70%ofthepeatproducedbyBnMissoldtotheElectricity Supply
Board(ESB)whichusesittogenerateelectricity (about2.8milliontonnes).
In1980,theESBran7peat-fired powerstationshavinganinstalled output
of430MW,whichthusmet22%ofIreland'stotalelectricity requirements .
Theindividual powerstationunitsarerelatively small(onaverage40-50MW)
since,inordertoavoidtransport costs,theymustbesitedascloseaspossible
tothevariouspeatextracting points.
(2)

-15-
In1981,about20$oftotalpeatproduction wasconvertedinto340000tonnes
ofbriquettes almostexclusively foruseinhouseholds .Thecalorific
valueofthebriquettes wasabout18000kj/kg.Theremainingpeatwasused
directly byindustry orhouseholds .
(49)AsfarasthefutureoftheIrishpeatindustryisconcerned ,thereare
plansforconsiderable expansion .TheBnMintendstoraisepeatproduction
fromitscurrentlevelofabout1milliontoetoroughly 1.6milliontoe
by1985and1.7milliontoeby1990.Anactualpeattonnageof6.7million
wouldbeproduced by1990.Consequently thepropostion ofIreland'soverall
primaryenergyproduction accountedforbypeatwouldrisefrom43$(1981)
toabout50$(1990).Whenexpressed intermsofoverallprimaryenergy
consumption peatwouldrisefrom10$toaccountfor11-12$.
(50)Mostoftheextrapeatproducedwillbeburnedinnewpowerstations.Over
arelatively shortperiod,anextra 1milliontonnesorsoofpeatcouldbe
burnedbothintwo40MWpowerunitsnowbeingbuiltandinexisting power
stations receiving morepeat.
(51)Likewise,by1990,additional peatbriquetting capacitywillhavebeen
installed .Twonewfacilities areplanned (annualcapacities of130000t
and260000trespectively ),sothattotalpeatbriquetting capacitywould
beabout750000tonnesin1990.Thesewouldtakeaccountnotonlyoffuture
household andindustrial requirements butwouldalsocoverthepresent
shortfall inbriquetting production whichhasmeantthatcertainquantities of
browncoalbriquettes havehadtobeimported fromtheFederalRepublic of
Germany.
Therearecurrently nodefinite planstogasifyorliquefypeat.

-16-
(52)Neither technically norfinancially will itbepossible tostep uppeat
production andexpand themarkets for iteasily intheways mentioned above .
Inseveral areas ,therefore ,there must befurther research anddevelopment
and-since theinvestments needed arehigh -itmust beensured that the
credit requirements ofboth theBnMandtheESBaremet .
b)UNITED KINGDOM
(53)TheUnited Kingdom hasrelatively extensive peat reserves (about 1.6million
1)hectares ,seeTable 6intheAnnex ),butnevertheless hassofarnot
developed anyindustry toexploit them .Even inthelargest ofthefour
British peat regions –Scotland –there isneither amarket noranyindustry
worth mentioning .Theseveral small private companies making uptheBritish
peat industry produce about 0.5million tonnes ofpeat peryear foragricul -
2)tural purposes .Only very small quantities areused inwhisky distilling .
(54)Extraction oftheenergy contained intheBritish peat deposits isaproblem
forthefuture which will mainly concentrate onScotland .This would improve
notonly energy supplies butalso Scotland 'sregional economic structure .
Several local authorities ^^arecooperating onthedevelopment work :
-theHighland Regional Council (HRC)
-theScottish Peat andLand Development Association (SPALDA )
-theHighland andIslands Development Board (HIDB )
-theMacauly Institute for Soil Research .
^'TheBritish peatreserves areassessed quantitively at2500million t
2)Seefootnote 1,page 3Annex B
^Onlythelocal authorities aredealing withpeatproblems .Peatplays
nopart intheBritish energy programme since theBritish government
isworking ontheassumption that peat canmake noworthwhile contribution
towards solving thecountry 'senergy problems

-17-
Itisplannedtodevelopthepeatreserves mCaithness andSutherland .
TheMacaulyInstitute estimates thatabout100milliontonnesofpeatcan
"berecovered fromtheCaithness deposits .
TheHIDBistestingthreepotential marketsforpeats
-households andindustry (spaceheating)
-peatcokeformetalprocessing
-Agricultural peat.
TheHRChasdecidedtoconverttheheatingofHalkirkprimaryschooltopeat
firingasademonstration project.Iftheprojectissuccessful itisintended
tolaunchalargescaleproject andbuilddistrict heatingfacilities .
TheSPALDAintendstobuildapeat-fired powerstation ontheIsleofLewis.
(55)Alloftheseprojectspointthewaytofurtherdevelopments .Atthemoment,
theyareintheirinfancybuttheycouldspawnnewindustrial structures
basedonthepotential ofthepeatreserves .Itisstillunclearwhether
Scottishpeatproduction couldclimbtosomemillionsoftonnesannually,
becausetoomanyproblems arestillunderscrutiny.
c)GREECE
(56)AlthoughGreecehassignificant peatreserves (seeTable6intheAnnex),no
starthasbeenmadeonextracting theirenergycontent.ThePPCwouldbe
responsible forwinningthepeatandusingitinpeat-fired powerstations .
ThePPCiscurrently negotiating withlandowners •buttheoutcomeisuncertain
owingtothehighaskingprices.
Ifagreements canbereacheditisplannedtobeingexpanding peatproduction
byabout19^5fBOthatmaximumannualproduction couldbeabout6million
tonnesfrom1991*Three200MWpowerstationunitswouldhavetobebuiltin
ordertoburnthepeat.

-18-
CHAPTER IV
TheCommunity 'sactivities inrespectofbrowncoalandpeat
(57)AsshowninChaptersIIandIIIboththebrowncoalandpeatindustries are
facedwithspecific problems whichinthepasthaveledtheCommission to
takestepstomakeitbotheasierandquickertoexpandproduction .
(58)TheCommission hasconcentrated onthefollowing areasinviewoftheinstru­
mentsprovided undertheEECTreatyandoftheproblems tobesolvedinboth
branches ofindustry :
Browncoal
-In1981aninvestment loanof350million Frenchfrancs (=56million ECU)
wasgrantedatthenormalrateofinterest inordertodevelop newcoalre­
servesintheMeyreuilfieldinFranceandtobuildanewpowerstation.
-In1982acreditof125million ECUwasgrantedatthenormalrateofinterest
tofinanceinvestments inbrown-coal mininginGreece.
-Between 1976and1981theCommission grantedassistance amounting toroughly
1million ECUforresearch intheFederalRepublic ofGermanytoimprove
browncoalproduction processes andraisecokequality.
Peat
TheCommission 'smeasures regarding peathavesofarrelatedexclusively to
Ireland .
-Between 1976and1980creditsof22.2million ECUweregrantedtofinance
investment inpeatproduction ,andaninterestrebateof2.9million ECU
wasalsogranted.

-19-
-Between 1976and198011.7million ECUincreditswithaninterest rebate
of2.5million ECUweregrantedforthebuilding ofnewpeat-fired power
stations .
-Between 1975and1979theCommission granted0.3million ECUinsupportof
demonstration projects ontheproduction ofbiomassinIreland.Support
amounting to0.5million ECUwillprobably begrantedin1979/83tocover
furtherIrishworkinthisarea.TheCommission hasalsoearmarked 0.4million
ECUforresearch intothetechnical improvement ofplanting andharvesting
equipment .
(59)Itcanbeseenfromthesemeasures thattheCommission hasbeeninvolved in
everymembercountrywherefinancing andresearch problemsaffecting brown
coalandpeathavehadtobesolvedorsimplified .Thedevelopment trends
setoutinchaptersIIandIIIleadonetoexpectthattheCommission 'sacti­
vitiesinthebrowncoalandpeatindustries willinfutureconcentrate mainly
onthesetwoproblem areas.

-20-
CHAPTER V
ConeLusions
(60)Thediscussions abovehaveshownthatbrowncoalandpeataresecureand
economically viableenergysourcesinthosecountries wheretheyarepro­
ducedandthatabovealltheyareanimportant primaryenergysourcefor
powerstations .However,thesefuelsarealsosoldontheindustrial and
household heatingmarkets.Theirimportance willbeboostedfurtherin
GreeceandIreland,whereasdevelopment ofthepeatreserves inScotland
isstillanopenquestion .Ingeneralthepotential reserves ofthese
energyvectorsareconsiderable andwillenablebothofthemtobeextrac­
tedforafurtherlongperiodwherever theyoccurintheMemberStates.
(61)Themethodsofextraction havereached ahighperformance levelandwork
iscontinuing ontheirfurtherdevelopment .Productivity ishigh.Ear­
ningsfullycovercostsandthusguarantee areturnonivestedcapital.
Thesesolidfuelsareencountering nomarketing difficulties becausetheir
individual forms-crudebrowncoal,browncoalbriquettes -andcoke,coal
dustandslack,milledandmachinecutpeatandpeatbriquettes -arefully
competitive ontheirvariousmarketsandinsomecasesdemandisstillri­
sing.Furthermore theextraction andconsumption ofbrowncoalandpeatcan
becoordinated bytherelevantparentcompanies (electricity utilities).
Itistherefore apleasuretobeabletonotethatbothbranches ofindustry
areeconomically ingoodshape.
(62)Sincealmostallbrowncoalandpeatisextracted bytheopencastmethod :
involving largesurfaceareas,theimpactontheirenvironment isimmense.
Consequently thelawmakers havegivenproducers comprehensive instructions
regarding tolandreclamation -sometimes veryprematurely .Similarlegis­
lationiscurrently atthedraftstageinGreece.Theresultsobtained
(Rhineland )havepavedthewayforseveralothercountries,butinsome
casesthemostpromising methodsarestillbeingtested(Ireland).Itwill
bepossibletoassertthatinmostcasesreplanting hasgreatlyincreased
andtheutilityoftlielandaffected,orindeedhasmadeitusableforthe
firsttime.Thecostadvantage ofbothfuelsisanycasesogreatthatthe
financial burdenbornebythecompanies asaresultofreclamation posesno
economic problems .

-21-
(63)Apartfromtheindisputable advantage inhavinganindigenous energyvector
forthesecurity ofagivencountry'senergysupply,afurthereconomic
advantage isthereducedpressure onthebalanceofpayments oftheless
industrialized MemberStateswhoseenergyrequirements mustessentially be
metbyimports.
(64)Finally,browncoalandpeatextraction createalotofjobs,especially in
GreeceandIrelandwhereproduction isoftenconcentrated insparsely populated
regions.Peatproduction cancorrectly besaidtobelabourintensive .Ithas
beenpossible tohaltpopulation shiftsandthearrivalofsuppliers,services
andretailers hascreatedfurtherjobs.
(65)Theappealofbrowncoalandpeatproduction intherelevant MemberStatesis
obvious.Itshouldtherefore beassumedthattheauthorities grantthecompanies
afreehandintheirpricingandmarketing policies andavoidinterference which
woulddisruptsupplyanddemandrelationships .
Pricesmustconstantly keeppaceinthosecountries withahighinflation rate
inordertoguarantee financing ofthenecessary investments .Asinotherenergy
producing industries investment inbrowncoalandpeathaslongleadtimesand
theattendant financing problems (especially whenextremely highinterestrates
apply).Inaddition theIrishpeatindustry mustmaintain extensive stocksfor
climatic reasons.
(66)InviewofthereasonsgivenabovetheCommunity desirability ofmaintaining
economically healthybrowncoalandpeatindustries needsnofurtherexplana-
TheCommission wouldlikeinthisconnection tocallattention tothereportby
theEuropean Parliament onpeat(Rapporteur :MrGallagher )of1December 1980
(Document No1-572/80).

-22-
TheCommunity should continue touse itsfinancial instruments (EIB loans ,
NCI -credits )toprovide adequate investment funds under thebest possible
conditions .
TheCommission also feels that thedraft regulations ondemonstration pro­
jects inthefields ofsolid fuel gasification andliquefaction before the
Council are likely tospeed upthechangeover from oil-fired plant ,while
theR&D programme onnewsolid-fuel combustion technologies ithasannoun­
ced,could open upadditional avenues ofbrown coal and peat use .The Com­
mission feels that theCommunity would fulfill hereby ageneral duty tohelp
th«economically less developed members oftheCommunity intheir efforts
totaptheir existing energy resources .

Table1
ReviewsoftheCommunity 's"browncoalreserves
inmillion tonnes
1.Federal Republic ofGermany
Rhineland (CologneandAachen
Hessen(Kassel)
Bavaria(Braunschweig )
Helmstedt (Braunschweig )
TotalGeological
reserves
55.000Reserves which
canbemined
profitably
35.000
100-120
small
200-250
approxo 55.000approx.35.000
2.Greece
WestMacedonia
Ptolemais
Amynteo
Servia-Ko zani
Komnina
Proastio
Others
Peleponnese
Megalopolis
OthersTotal approx «
.Total .approx.
TotalforallGreece2080
483
508
150
400
3770
540
57045£)
•0
28f)-1)
approx,2000
470.i)
approxo
2700
3.Ital.v
4»France
5.Netherlands
6.Denmarkapprox. 190
•O
2)approx.70-80^
•♦
2)
Notyetassessed
2Notavailable

Table2
Browncoal:Federal Republic ofGermany
(A)Balancesheet
(in10000toe)
730 891-1 -8
27238 277081980 1981
Homeproduction 26509 26825
OQIImports(i.e.Czechoslovak hardbrowncoal) , fl
Variations instocks
Consumption
Conversion
fbrgenerating electricity 23129 23786
forbriquetting 2443 2165
forproducing coaldustandslack 1150 1272
forcoke(i.e.low-temperture-coke)production 88 84
Totalconverted 26810 27307
Directconsumption
Ownrequirements 32 32
Industry 392 365
Others 5 4
Totaldirectconsumption 429 401
IB)Upgrading
1.Briquetting (1000t) 4446 4169
Briquette imports (1000t) 1061 1265
Totalbriquette supply (1000t) 5507
Bncruette sales
Households (l000t) 3658 3324
Powerstations " 910 958
Industry ** 260 422
Exports " 582 578
Others " 147 142
_2.Coal-dustandslack (l000t) 1934 2247
(C)Significance ofbrowncoalinrelationtototal
Sharetakenbybrowncoalintotalproduction
ofprimary sources 21.9* 21.1*
Sharetakenbybrowncoalintotalconsumption
ofprimary energy ' 10.1* 10.7*
Sharetakenbyelectricity generated frombrown
coalintotalelectricity output 26% 26#

Table3
BrowncoaliFrance
(A)Balancesheet
(in1000toe)
1980 1981
Homeproduction .841 906
Stocksιimportsand.exports upby11 downby 107
Consumption 852 799
Burnttogenerateelectricity - 733 700
Directconsumption
Industry - 74 61
Households andothers 29 27
(Β)Significance ofbrowncoalinrelation
tototalenergysupplies
Sharetakenbybrowncoalintotalproduction
ofprimarysources 1.9* 1.7*
Sharetakenbybrowncoalintotalconsumption
ofprimaryenergy 0.5* 0.5*
Sharetakenbyelectricity generated from
browncoalintotalelectricity output 1.* 1*

Table4
Brownooal:Greece
(A)Balancesheet
Homeproduction
Variations instocks(in1000ttoe)
1980 1981
3031 3200
66 +52
Consumption 2965 3252
Conversion
forgenerating electricity 2703 3022
forbriquetting
Totalconverted
DirecteoasTinipt ionbyindustry84
LH
__ΐχΐ51
L2I¿.
179
(B)Upgrading
Briquetting (lOCX)t) 246 205
Briquette sales
toindustry (l000t) 149 125
tohouseholds (l000t) 97 80
ÍC)Significance ofbrowncoalinrelationto
totalenergysupplies
Sharetakenbybrowncoalintotalproduction
ofprimarysources 91.8# 88.9#
Sharetakenbybrowncoalintotalconsumption
ofprimaryenergy 19-4% 22.4#
Sharetakenbyelectricity generated frombrown
coalintotalelectricity output 45# 53#

Table5
Browncoal 8Italy
(A)Balancesheet
(in1000ttoe)
- 1980 1981
Homeproduction 312 304
Variations inetocks +15 +16
Consumption 320
BSS3SS
Burnttogenerateelectricity 322 305
Directconsumption byindustry 5 15
––
(B)Significance ofbrowncoalinrelation
tototalenergysupplies
Sharetakenbybrowncoalintotalproduction
ofprimarysources 1.836 1.7Í
Sharetakenbybrowncoalintotalconsumption
ofprimaryenergy0,2% 0.256
Sharetakenbyelectricity generated frombrowncoal
intotalelectricity output 1% 1%

Table6
SurveyoftheCommunity 'sgeological peatreserves
1.UnitedKingdom (inhectares )
Scotland 820000
Northern England 360000
Northern Ireland 240000
Wales 160000
Total 1580000
2.Republic ofIreland
Total 1200000hectares
Areawhichcanbeharvested
profitably s600000hectares
3.fereece (inmillioncubicmetres)
Peloponnese (Kbroni) 12Mio
WestMacedonia (Agras) 50Mio
EastMacedonia (Philippi ) 4300Mio
Total 4362Mio
4»FederalRepublicofGermany (inhectares )
Northern Germany 550000
Southern Germany 250000
Total 800000
ofwhichuplandbogsaccount
for:350000hectares
5.Denmark 120000
6.Italy 120000
7.Framee(Brittany) 100000
8»Netherlands 50000

Table 7
Peat :Ireland
(A)Balance sheet
(in1000ttoe)
1980 1981
Home production 888 945
Variations instocks +70 -132
Consumption 958 813
Conversion
forgenerating electricity 606 585
forbriquetting 164 167
Total converted _ZXQ_
Direct consumption
Indus trv 1 4
Households 212 88
Total direct consumption 213 92
Statistical error -25 -31
(b)Upgrading
Briquetting (1000t) 338 340
Household sales (1000t) 342 330
energy supplies
Share taken bypeat
primary sourcesintotal production of
45% 4356
Share taken bypeat
primary energyintotal consumption of
115& 10#
Share taken bypeat
primary energyintotal consumption of
22% 22%

ANNEX A
IGENERAL INFORMATION ONTHEPRODUCTION ANDUSEOFBROWN COAL
1.Definition ofbrowncoal
1.Browncoalisafossilsolidenergyvectorwhichingeological termscomes
betweenpeatandhardcoal.Coalification hasgoneonlongerthanwithpeat
(whosegeological ageis10000to12000years)/butnotas,longaswith
hardcoal(whosegeological ageissome300millionyears).
Theworld'sknownreserves ofbrowncoalhaveageological ageof30-70
millionyearsandarefoundinzoneswhereclimate andtopography have
formedbogsandmarshyforests. :
Thecoalification ofbogsandforestscausedareduction ofthewater
contentandthehardening andcarbon-enrichment oftheresidue,whichis
usuallydesignated browncoalorlignite.Thename"browncoal"derives
fromthecolour(lighttodarkbrown),whiletheterm"lignite"arises
fromthelignincontentofthecoalified wood.
2.Different biochemical andthermalprocesses haveresulted indifferent
typesofcoalification andhaveaccordingly produced various formsof
browncoal,namely :
-olderbrowncoal,
-hardbrowncoal,
-immature browncoal.
3.Itisdifficult todistinguish browncoalfromhardcoal,becausedif­
ferentdegreesofcoalification havegivenriseinparttosubstances
whichcannotbeclassified accurately .Theclassification thatwasnever­
thelessnecessary fornumerouspractical reasonswasthusestablished
inthenormalwayonthebasisofcarboncontentandcalorific value.-
Accordingly ,theupperlimitsforbrowncoalareacarboncontentof
175%byweightandacalorific valueof23860Kj/Kg(waterandashfree).
Coalswhichhaveahighercarboncontentorcalorific valueareregarded
ashardcoals. i
(1)Equivalent to5700Kcal/kg.

-2-Annex A
2.Brown coal winning methods
4.IntheCommunity ,"brown coal ispredominantly produced "byopencast
mining (99$)•Only inPrance (Provence )andtheFederal Republic of
Germany (Hessen )is "brown coal mined underground -anoperation similar
totheunderground mining ofhard coal .Underground production methods
arenotdiscussed further inthis paper .
Inopencast operations ,thetype ofcutting method generally depends on
thedepth andcondition oftheoverburden ,thethickness ofthecoal
seam ,thecondition ofthecoal andthewater-retention problems that
have to "besolved .Once the coal has been extracted the resultant
voids aregenerally filled inwith rubble andtheground relandscaped .
5.Themost important problem technically andeconomically which hasto
besolved when theoverburden isremoved andthecoal extracted ,is
' ..... . .1themovement ofthelarge masses involved .Operating units ,which
areaslarge aspossible andcover acorrespondingly large area are
selected forthis purpose ,andhigh-performance excavators with a
large depth ofcutareused tohold down costs .TheGerman brown
coal industry uses bucket-wheel excavators with adaily output of
240000m^.Large machines ofthistypehavebeendeveloped from
experience stretching back over decades andhave reached alevel of
performance which from thetechnical andeconomic view-point leaves
little room for improvement .
Brown coal mining isprobably theindustry intheFederal Republic with
thelargest bulk turn-over .In1980 ,theextraction ofsome 930million
tonnes involved theshifting of444million nPofbulk .

-3-Annex A
Theefficiency oflarge machines makes itpossible today tostrip over­
burden which is350 "to400mthick ,provided ofcourse that theground
canbeexcavated (gravel ,sand ,clay ).Surface stripping isexpensive
andought tobeseen asapreliminary investment before brown coal
production can .actually start .Thecost breakdown andprofitability
ofbrown coal production depend essentially ontheoverburden /coal
ratio' "since thecoalseammaybe10-20 morasmuchas150-200 mdeep .
Inmany opencast operations intheCommunity this ratio isabout 3:1 »
but itistending toincrease .OntheHambach coalfield intheFederal
Republic ofGermany (which isabout tobedeveloped )the0/Cratio is
about 6.9:1 .
6.Thepresence ofground water intheoverburden isaproblem ,especially
when seams liedeep .Thewater-level must "belowered throughout the
opencast pit sothat even thelowest layers inthe seam can "becut
without hindrance ,andthepitmust "berendered impervious tolateral
ground water ingress foroperating periods which may last decades .
Therequisite measures differ from oneplace toanother ,since they
areadapted tolocal conditions ,andcanrepresent aconsiderable "burden
inacompany 'scost andrevenue account .
7.Regulations ontheconservation oftheenvironment ,which arenot
uniform inalltheMember States ,provide that land must bereclaimed
2after thepithasbeen worked out .Once alayer oftop soil hasbeen
applied ,theland isgenerally afforested ormade suitable foragri­
cultural purposes .Anyhollows remaining asaresult ofcoal extraction
fill upwith ground water sothat ,asforinstance intheRhineland ,
anarea ofwooded lakes isformed which isappreciated bythepopulation
atlarge .
Generally designated the0/Cratio (overburden :coal ).
2_. . •. !This type ofregulation does notexist inGreece ,although theGreek
Government isbusy preparing legislation .

Annex A
-4-
3.Theproduct and itsuses
8.Asalready mentioned ,thevarying degree ofcoalification hasresulted
indifferent types of "brown coal .
-Older "brown coals .IntheCommunity these areproduced only in
Prance (Provence )andintheFederal Republic (Hessen ),specifically
inunderground mines .Thecalorific value isa"bout 19000Kj/kgfor
awater content of20-25$ andanashcontent of9-13$ .In1981 ,
production inPrance amounted to1.6million tonnes andintheFederal
Republic to0.5million tonnes ,together making upabout 1$oftotal
"brown coal production intheCommunity .Older "brown coal isonly of
local significance intheCommunity .
-Hard "brown coals .These arenotproduced intheCommunity ,butimported
into Southern Germany from Czechoslovakia (2.4million tonnes in1981 )
tofuel power stations .Theenergy characteristics are :
IntheCommunity ,hard brown coals areoflocal significance only .
-Immature brown coals .These provide about 99$oftotal brown coal
production intheCommunity andaretheprincipal subject ofthe
discussion inChapter IIofthis report .
9.Depending ontheir condition ,immature brown coals areused forthe
following purposes :
-asboiler coal forsteam/electricity generation }
-asbriquetting coal forthemanufacture ofbriquettes ?
-for the manufacture ofcoke :
-toproduce coal dust andslack .water content
ash content
calorific value25-40%
8-14$
13400-16 700KJ/kg

Annex A
-5-
Foruse as "boiler coal ,immature brown coal must have thefollowing
energy characteristics ;
water content 40-70%
ash content 2-8%
sulphur 0.3-0.6%
calorific value 6600-8 500KJ/kg
Thefigures relate toaverage values andthereality may "bedifferent
inindividual cases .Twofeatures have adecisive effect asregards the
marketing ofimmature "brown coal :itslowcalorific value andhigh
moisture content .
10.Although "brown coal represents fortheCommunity asignificant source of
energy ,which isrelatively cheap toextract andwhose supply issecure ,
these twofeatures mean that thegeographical area inwhich itcan "beused
2islimited .Foreconomic reasons "brown coal cannot "betransported very
far .Oftotal Community production in1981 ,Bffowasfired inpower
stations close "bythecoalfield and "brown coal production andelectricity
generation were mostly performed bythe same company .Narrow transport
constraints andintegrated production andconsumption byasingle company
mean that there ispractically nomarket price forbrown coal ,but only
anintercompany price which isestablished between parent company and
subsidiary ineach case .
Agood 10$ofbrown coal production (in1981 )wasupgraded into briquettes ,
coke etc.,andonly 1-2$ wassold toindustry andthehousehold sector .
11.Theupgrading ofbrown coal^provides theonlypossibility ofexpanding
itsmarket .Upgrading consists inreducing thewater content andraising
thecalorific value .Themost important upgraded products are :
Bycontrast ,hard coal |hasacalorific value of25000-35 000KJ/kgand
gamoisture content of6-8$ .
Interms ofenergy content ,1t,crude oil■about 5tbrown coal
«(volume tobetransported ■?r).
Assuming that theupgraded product takes theform ofasolid fuel .The
firing ofbrown coal forelectricity generation isanalternative form of
upgrading andindirectly -bytransmission oftheelectricity -opens up
anextensive market forbrown coal .^

-6-AnnexA
approx.calorific value
-browncoalbriquettes
-brovmcoalcoke
-coaldustandslack20000
30000
21000
Marketsexistfortheseupgraded products bothathomeandabroad.
Briquettes aresupplied predominantly toindustry andthehousehold
sector }cokehasmanyusesinthemetalindustries andasafilterin
watertreatment }coaldustandslackarebeingusedincreasingly in
thelimeandcementindustry ,asasubstitute foroil.
WithregardtofutureusesintheCommunity ,thefollowing generalpoints
canbemade:
-Depending onavailability ,browncoalwillcontinuetobeused,
andinincreasing measure,togenerateelectricity (especially in
-Theproduction ofbrowncoalbriquettes willdependonthedevelopment
ofthemarket,i.e.onhousehold demand,whichalthough generally
regarded asstaticmayvaryfromcountrytocountry.Certainscope
forexpansion existsforbriquettes inthesteelindustry ,inthe
production ofspongeiron.
-Itwillpresumably bepossibletomakeincreasing useofbrowncoal
cokeinindustry asaresultoffurtherresearch .Thisisconcentrating
onthedevelopment ofby-products ,themanufacture offinecoke,
qualitative improvements andtheuseofbrowncoalasanadsorption
medium.Greece).
-Therearefurtherpotential usesforpulverized coalandslackin
industry .

AnnexA
-7-
-Mentionshouldalso "bemadeofbrowncoal'sgasification andliquefaction
potential ,areaswhereintensive researchisbeingcarriedout.The
maintopicsbeinginvestigated are:
-theproduction ofmethanol-synthesis gasusingthehigh-temperature
Winklerprocess ;
-themanufacture ofsynthetic naturalgasusingfludized-bed gasi­
fication withhydrogen asthemedium;
-thedevelopment ofliquefaction viatheuseofhydrogen .
Thepointofallthesemeasuresistoprovideastarting pointfromwhich
itwillbepossibletodecideonhowbrowncoalcanbestbeused,depending
ontheenergy-policy situation andeconomic considerations .Theconversion
processes areabout50-60$efficient .Profitability hasnotyetbeen
achieved ,exceptasregardstheproduction ofhydrogenous synthetic gas.
Finally,alarge-scale experimental planthasbeenbroughtintooperation
atJulichintheFederalRepublic ofGermanytoproducemethanefrom
browncoal,usingprocessheatfromanuclear-power plant.

ANNEXB
IGENERAL INFORMATION ONTHEPRODUCTION ANDUSEOPPEAT
1.Definition ofpeat
1.Peatisasubstance ofvaryingorganiccomposition formedfromplant
remains.Itistheproductofthefirststageofcoalification andforms
inzonesofsaturation whicharecutofffromaeration .Theresultant
loosefibroussubstance can"beregarded asahalf-way stage "betweennatural
vegetable matterand"browncoal.Depending onthecoalification andnature
oftheplantfibreswhichitcontains ,peatvariesincolourfromoff-yellow
todarkbrown.
Temperateregionsat"between35°and70°latitudein"boththeNorthern
andSouthern hemispheres offerthemostpropitious climatic andtopographical
conditions forpeat-bog formation .However,coalification proceedsrelative­
lyslowlyinsuchregions:itcantakebetween 10000and12000years
foruplandbogsbetween 5metresand8metresthicktoform.
2.Peat-winning methods
2.Peatbogscontainasmuchas95%water.Needlesstosay,peatwithsuch
ahighwatercontentisuseless.Consequently ,beforethepeat-winning
operations propercanstartthebogsmustbedrainedandaccessprovided .
First,thebogsaredrainedbydiggingdrainage ditches;thisreduces
thewatercontentofthepeatfrom95$tobetween85$and88%.Whilethe
drainage workisinprogress-orimmediately thereafter -aroadorrail
linktothebogsmustbelaidtosolvetheproblemoftransporting the
peat.Thisdrainage andotherpreparatory worktakesarelatively long
time(betweenfiveandsixyears)andrequiresaheavyfinancial outlay-
inthenatureofapriminginvestment beforepeatproduction assuch
canstart.Prefinancing thatinvestment isoneofthe.majorfinancial
problems facingthepeatindustry .

-2- ANNEXB
Oncethepreparatory workhasbeencompleted ,peat-winning canstart-
eitherbyhand'^ortoymachine.
Therearetwomechanical methodsofwinningpeat:
(i)thepeatiscutoutintheformofblocks("turves"),whicharethen
spreadouttodryonthesurfaceorontheoverburden whichhasbeen
stripped away.Air-drying reducesthewatercontentoftheblockstoaround
35%;
(ii)theupperlayersofthepeat(i.e.thetop5cmorso)aremilledoffto
produce"milledpeat",whichisthenmacerated sothatitwilldryout
faster.Oncethemoisture contentofthepeathasfallentobetween
45$and55$,thepeatisharvested andstoredforfutureuse.Infine
2)summerweather,thisprocedure canberepeated severaltimesover.
Relatively thickseamscanbeworkedlikethisfordecades,untilallbut
thelast0.5moftheseamhasbeenextracted .
Themachinesemployedforpeat-winning arepurpose-built machines ,often
developed bythepeatcompanies themselves .InFinland,theSovietUnion
andIreland,theindustry hasdoneextensive development workonthem.Major
improvements havebeenmadetothetechnical designofthepeat–winning
machines,butproblemsstillremainwhenitcomestomatching themtothe
prevalent peat-winning conditions ,particularly inhillyterrain.
Oncethepeathasbeenextracted ,thelandcanbereclaimed foragricultural
orforestry use.Firstly,thelandisdeep-ploughed tomixthesubsoiland
anyremaining peat.Then,limeandmineralfertilizers areaddedtoproduce
arichersoil.Landrecultivated inthiswayissuitable aspastureland ,for
cropcultivation orforforestry.
^Hand-cutting playssuchamarginalr81ethatitwillnotbedealtwithin
therestofthisAnnex.
2)Thefactthatpeatproduction dependssoheavilyontheclimatecreates
majorproblems withregardtostoragefacilities andtheprovision of
asteadysupplyforpeat-fired powerstations.

-3- ANNEX B
Ifthe land isreafforested afterwards ,alternative fuels could begrown .
Forinstance ,large-scale planting ofquick-growing trees could bethe
start oflarge-scale biomass production .Preliminary research work istobe
continued with aview torunning aproject along these lines inIreland .
However ,recultivation ofexhausted peat bogs isnottheanswer toallthe
environmental problems caused bypeat harvesting .Conversion ofthepeat
bogs into agricultural land andforests nevertheless causes thedisappearance
ofwetlands andthereby destroys thebasis fortheexistence ofrare species
offlora aswell asdecisively affecting thechances ofsurvival ofwetland
fauna .Peat-winning iseven banned outright from some ofthebogs inthe
Community ,whilst elsewhere experiments arebeing conducted toresaturate
exhausted peat bogs inthehope ofrestoring their typical upland bogflora .
3.The product and itsuses
There aremany possible applications forindustrial-scale peat harvests ,the
twomost important being :
(i)non-energy uses foragricultural orhorticultural purposes .Many small
andmedium-sized peat producers base their businesses ontheproduction
1)ofpeat manure ,which iseven traded oninternational markets
1This Annex does not gointo this branch ofthepeat industry .Forinformation
the1980 production figures forpeat foragricultural purposes aresetout
below (within thelimits oftheavailable statistics ).
(in1000t)
United Kingdom
Ireland
Federal Republic ofGermany 2000500
380
Denmark
France110
100

-4- ANNEX B
(ii)energyapplications ,i.e.eitherfordirectcombustion orforupgrading ,
e.g.forbriquetting orcokeproduction .
8.Thefollowing dataareofparticular interestinconnection withthecombustion
ofpeatasafuel:
"Turves" Milledpeat
Calorificvalue 14000kj/kg 8000kj/kg
Ashcontent 2-4% 2-4%
Sulphurcontent 0.5% 0.4%
Watercontent 30-35% 45~55%
ofcourse,theseareonlyaveragevaluesandtheactualfigureissometimes
different inpractice .Nevertheless ,themainenvironmental agrumentin
favourofburningpeatcentres onitslowsulphurcontent.
9.Upgrading -ftiecoal1Dbriquettes orcokesubstantially reducesitswatercontent
whileconsiderably increasing itscalorific value.
Calorific value Watercontent
Briquettes approx.16000-18000kJ/kg Between10and11%
Coke approx.31000kj/kg between 6and7%
Peatbriquettes areburntforspaceheating,whilstpeatcokeisavaluable
fuelforthemetalindustries ,sinceitproducesfarfasterchemicalreactions
thancokeproduced fromhardcoal.
Boththeseupgraded products areproduced tobesold,i.e.withspecific –
albeitoftenpurelylocal-marketsinmind.
Recently ,aseriesoftrialswerestartedinIrelandwithaviewtoupgrading
peattoproducepellets,whichdisplaysimilarproperties tobriquettes
andarewell-suited toindustrial furnaces andlargeheatingplants.This
couldopenuppromising newmarketsforpeat.

-5- ANNEX B
10.Peat-burning power stations arethe .leading customers fordirect –combustion
fuel peat .Itisnotprofitable totransport peat over more than very short
distances .Consequently ,itmust beburnt inrelatively small power plants
close tothepeatlands ,with thepeat producers andthepower plant ,operators
coordinating their activities inorder tobalance supply andconsumption .
11.Although purpose-built peat furnaces forpower plants arealready available ,
there isstill room forfurther technical development .Forinstance ,
improvements could bemade by:
-specially pre-drying thepeat toreduce itswater content from around
5C$to20$ ;
-introducing cyclone boilers ;
-fluidized-bed combustion .
Promising results have already been achieved atthevarious experimental plants
setuptotest these types offurnace .
12.Inaddition toincreasing peat burn inpower stations ,thought isalso
being given topossible applications forfuel peat inindustry orinlarge
heating plants .However ,this raises more than just technical problems –there
isalso thedifficulty oftransporting thepeat andofproviding therequisite
infrastructure .Itisstill tooearly topredict theeconomic results .
13.Leaving aside theprospects forincreases inthermal applications ofpeat or
formore widespread upgrading ,gasification orliquefaction arealso distinct
possibilities .Considerable importance isbeing attached tothese possible
uses ,particularly inFinland ,Sweden andintheUSAandCanada .However ,the
research hasyet toproceed beyond thelaboratory stage .Inallprobability ,
notuntil thedistant future will commercial-scale plants ofthis type
provide aneconomic alternative tocrude-oil derivatives .