Local business and Indigenous organization positioned to benefit from study
There are so many benefits of peat that it’s hard to believe the humble horticultural product could be connected to a negative environmental impact. It improves water retention in soil, aerates the ground, boosts nutrients, and more. In short, it helps plants grow into lush, healthy, carbon-absorbing friends of the Earth.
But producing peat is not an Earth-friendly activity.
In nature, peat exists as dead, dense plant material submerged in bogs, its breakdown slowed by low temperatures and little oxygen. In Canada, peatlands are figured to contain 150 billion tonnes of carbon; in Alberta, 90% of its many wetlands contain peat.
Mining such ecosystems, a global industry led by Canada, releases a rising number of megatonnes of carbon annually that is unlikely to be immediately offset by the saplings peat nurtures. And it takes centuries for the carbon-sequestering capacity of disrupted peatlands to be restored.
A NAIT applied research project, supported by the Scotiabank net-zero research fund and in collaboration with an Alberta company called Plantae Technologies, seeks a solution. “We’re trying to replace peat with an ag-forestry type of residue,” says Dr. Justice Asomaning (pictured below), Ovintiv applied research chair in energy. What's more, that "residue" is an abundant and renewable industry byproduct.
If their plan works, Asomaning says, “it’s going to have a significant impact” – and not at the expense of your garden.
From lab to greenhouse
Currently, peat is essential to the efforts of Dr. Jean-Marie Sobze, applied research chair in plant and seed technologies at NAIT’s Centre for Boreal Research in Peace River. Part of his work focuses on propagating native plants for forest reclamation; peat is his growth medium.
But, knowing the impacts of mining the material, he’d happily replace as much of it as possible. That’s why he's eager to test Asomaning’s peat-free preparations.
“One thing I want to assess is the water retention capacity of this material,” says Sobze. He’ll also look at how well the alternatives resist decomposition.
Those alternatives include the underutilized bits of hemp, barley, wheat and canola that tend to be left behind after a harvest. All are readily available from Alberta farms every year, Asomaning points out.
To help meet Sobze’s needs, Asomaning will coat the plant material with a forest-industry byproduct expected to slow degradation (it’s proprietary, or else he’d say what it is). And his chemical analyses will help his colleague adjust fertilizer composition in advance.
Sobze (pictured below) will carry out side-by-side comparisons of plants grown using peat and those using alternatives, and share results with his network of growers across Canada.
With trials starting this spring, Sobze is optimistic, even if he’s expecting varied results. He wonders if the alternatives will resist decomposition long enough to establish slow-growing seedlings such as spruce or cranberry. But he foresees fast-growing aspen – a cornerstone of reclamation projects – doing just fine without peat.
Such results may satisfy Asomaning. “Our current target would be replacing a portion of peat [usage],” he says. “If we were to replace up to 20%, that would be a huge success.”
Beyond the garden
It may also prove a success for NAIT's main collaborator in the project, Plantae Technologies, a company with a focus on environmental reclamation.
In partnership with the Metis Settlements Development Corporation (MSDC), that Sturgeon County-based firm hopes to commercialize a peat alternative based on the NAIT study. The market may have room for it. Demand for peat is strong and rising. In 2023, total Canadian exports – roughly 1.3 million tonnes – were worth $490 million.
"There's an opportunity for us to spearhead better sustainability options.”
“We think there's an opportunity for us to spearhead better sustainability options,” says Plantae president Trevor Kloeck. To do so, “we need to be able to prove and scale these technologies rapidly, which is where NAIT comes in.”
Kloeck sees the partnership with the polytechnic as “a good fit.” Plantae comprises about a dozen full-time employees besides management; experts such as Asomaning, Sobze and their teams shore up research and development efforts.
“It’s really important that we do this methodically, transparently – in a way that's repeatable in the market,” Kloeck says. “We need to get the science in place so we can move forward.”
MSDC will furnish the project and possible venture with plant fibre from farms located on the settlements it represents.
“Our mandate is economic reconciliation and equal participation in the economy, but [an opportunity] has to be values-aligned,” says Barbara McKenzie (Marketing ’90), CEO of MSDC. “It also has to have a substantive benefit to Indigenous people.”
From her perspective, the peat replacement project is a path to not only revenue but sustainable diversification. It may also represent a chance to decrease reliance on resource projects on Métis settlements, and instead “use those traditional lands for ceremony, hunting and fishing.”
That could also mean more carbon-storing peatlands left intact.
“We're entering a critical phase [in] how we interact with the natural world,” says Kloeck. “These kinds of things need to be addressed by somebody.”
Results from NAIT will be ready in September. In the meantime, Asomaning is pleased to be part of the pursuit of a horticultural innovation that could have benefits well beyond gardens and greenhouses.
“GHG emission reduction is a global issue,” he says. “If we were to take these byproducts and make something that would replace even a fraction of peat mining, that excites me.”
