Climate and peat soil protection through photovoltaics

Around 40 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector are caused by the decomposition of peat in drained peatlands. To reduce these emissions, peat soils that have been drained must be rewetted.

A large share of peat soils, however, is used intensively for agriculture, and rewetting these areas is unattractive for many farmers and landowners — rewetting severely restricts how the land can be managed and is associated with a loss in land value. To resolve this conflict between climate protection and agriculture, innovative concepts are needed that bring both perspectives together.

Solution approach

The research project funded by us at the University of Greifswald on climate and peat soil protection takes exactly this approach by combining photovoltaics (PV) with peatland rewetting: the researchers are examining the extent to which photovoltaics can offer farmers an economic perspective on rewetted peat soils – while at the same time harnessing climate‑related and ecological potential.

To analyze these potentials, both the effects of rewetting on the technical systems (e.g., maintenance and dismantling, economic viability) and the effects of the PV installation on the peatland site (e.g., gas fluxes, water balance and biodiversity) must be systematically examined. If economically and ecologically viable concepts can be developed, the project could become a lever for the large‑scale rewetting of peatlands.

Profile

Duration: 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2026
Funding amount: 1,060,418.90 EUR
Participants:
- Prof. Dr. Gerald Jurasinski (Project Lead)
- Monika Hohlbein (Coordination)
- Prof. Dr. Volker Beckmann, Dr. Sabine Wichmann (Landscape Economics Group)
- Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kreyling (Experimental Plant Ecology Group)
- Prof. Dr. Gerald Jurasinski, PD Dr. Franziska Tanneberger (Peatland Science Group)
- Prof. Dr. Sebastian van der Linden (Remote Sensing Group)