century and it was used as a fuel mainly in distilleries and peasant households, and also as litter for cattle. In the middle of the 19th century more than 300 pits of hand-cut peat were registered. These were located mostly on the lands of former estates (Animägi, 1995). Since 1860, machine-cut peat has been used as fuel for the Sindi Cloth Factory, where two Schilickeysen peat presses with tractor engines operated. At the beginning of the 20th century, the use of peat as fuel and as a means of producing electricity increased remarkably. In the 1920s peat served as the main fuel for power stations; in 1926 it provided 10% of the total amount of industrial fuel (Ilomets et al., 1995). In 1922, in order to organize and coordinate peat excavation, the State Peat Industry enterprise was founded, uniting the Lavassaare, Aruküla and Ellamaa peat industries, later also the Pööravere Briquette Industry (presently Tootsi). Smaller peat excavation companies joined into local societies, the total number of them being 916 in 1939 (Juske, 1995). Due to the increasing role of timber in the total fuel balance, the importance of peat decreased in 1925–1935. In order to stop the expanding cutting of forests, the Government initiated a fuel reform, which foresaw the growth in the share of peat in the fuel balance up to 27.6%. In reality, an increase up to 11.8% was achieved. The production of peat briquettes was started in Tootsi in 1939, which yielded 50,000 tons of peat briquettes a year (Juske, 1995). In several local industries the use of peat as fuel increased remarkably after World War II. Peat excavation units associated to factories, amounting to 20 in number, were put into operation. In 1959, a new complex of the briquette factory was completed in Tootsi, with an annual output of about 110,000 tons. Later, two other factories were built – in 1964 the Oru peat briquette factory with the annual production of 200,000 tons, and in 1975 the Sangla factory with a yearly output of 50,000 tons (Juske, 1995). From 1962 onwards, several small peat excavation units were closed due to the increase in use of liquid fuels. One reason for the decrease of sod peat excavation may have been the lack of machinery for smallscale exploitation. The machines available were designed for large-scale enterprises with an output of 20,000 tons per year. Since 1957, peat excavation in Estonia has been completely mechanized. In 1982, cutting of sod peat was terminated, but in 1987/88 the extraction of thin sod peat began again (Paal et al., 1998). In 1990, extraction of block peat was started for horticultural needs, and formed some 4% of the total annual peat output (Animägi, 1995). Milled peat extraction was initiated in Estonia in 1938 (Luberg, 1995). The output of milled peat started to increase rapidly in 1950–1960 on the basis of new products, horticultural and litter peat (Table 9). In 1975, milled peat made up to 98.6% of the total amount of peat extracted annually. The production of litter peat increased in the 1960s, when local agricultural associations were established in districts and excavation of peat became to be financed from the state budget. In 1975, there were 96 fields from which as much as 1,264,000 tons (40% humidity) of litter peat were excavated. That kind of peat exploitation has presently decreased remarkably (in 1994 only 345,300 tons) and the peat-fields are only partly used. In Estonia, preconditions have been created for briquette production with a full capacity of 420,000 tons. The maximum output of 340,000 tons was achieved in 1976, and since the beginning of 1990s the factories have been working at reduced capacity. As the domestic use of milled peat is declining, exctraction for export (to the Netherlands, Germany, U.K., Sweden, Finland) has increased from 116,000 tons in 1993 to 400,000 tons in 1996 (Table 10). This increasing trend is likely to continue as the high quality horticultural Sphagnum peat resources are very limited in western Europe (Hammer, 1998). In the recent years as much as 90% of the horticultural peat production and 65% of the fuel peat has been exported (Orru, 2003). Estonia is the 3rd or 4th largest exporter of horticultural peat in the world52.
52 Access at: http://www.riigikontroll.ee/tabid/206/Audit/1850/Area/15/ language/et-EE/Default.aspx#results (assessed 03.04.2011). ESTONIAN MIRES: INVENTORY OF HABITATS
63