Soil and Climate - Soil: Reflections on the Basis of our Existence - page 121

Involuntary polluters . Commercial carrots are often grown in peaty soil. An unfortunate side-
effect is that large quantities of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere as the peat
decays. Carrot cultivation requires frequent earth turning, which accelerates decomposition. It is
better for the environment to grow carrots in sandy soil, which emits much less CO 2 . Grass and
other crops that require less soil turning are good alternatives for peaty soil
But carrots are still grown on drained peatland in the central Swedish province
of N￤rke, a practice that sees eight tonnes of carbon per hectare lost to the atmos-
phere every year. The process of peat degradation is accelerated by the intensive
soil preparation required to grow root crops. Knowing what we do today, this type
of agriculture is hard to defend. A much better way is to grow reed canary grass,
which performs well in damp soil. This would obviate the need to drain the land
and allow the carbon to remain fixed in the soil. It is a true win-win because reed
canary grass is an excellent bioenergy crop.
In Indonesia, palm oil plantations grow on drained peatland once covered by
forest. The oil is used to make “eco-friendly” diesel that we in the West can use to
reduce our carbon footprint. The problem is that the carbon emissions from palm
oil cultivation are so high that using this diesel is worse, from a global warming
perspective, than conventional diesel. To make matters worse, peat bogs some-
times catch fire when drained, releasing even more carbon dioxide into the atmos-
phere. Indonesia's CO 2 emissions are higher than any other country bar the US
and China. One can only hope that the powers that be devise a biodiesel ecolabel
that excludes fuel produced in this way.
Large parts of Finland are also peatland. However, the Finns have been more
adept at keeping the carbon in the ground, despite large-scale conversion of peaty
soil to agriculture. During childhood I remember reading Under the North Star