Estonia's largest peat production area is in Pärnu County, encompassing the Lavassaare and Elbu peat areas, where several companies are engaged in the industry.

One of these firms is Nurme Turvas, currently cutting an area of 350 hectares of peat. The company has submitted an application to the Environmental Board (Keskonnaamet) to utilize a further new peat production area of about 100 hectares. This area is located in the same seam as currently being cut, the company says.

Marko Kulman, CEO at Nurme Turvas, said: "To maintain production and its quality, we need to use the reserve production blocks, which ensure us longer sustainability and the courage to invest."

The company also wants to extend the mining permit for the area where it is currently mining. The Environmental Board has not yet made a decision on either application. Similar applications have been submitted to the board by other entities.

The Lavassaare and Elbu peat production area is mostly located in Tori Municipality. While the municipality cannot prevent the expansion itself, it is monitoring the situation with concern.

The local municipal mayor of Tori, Lauri Luur (Isamaa), said: "There are some significant objects worth protecting, and, in our view, it is vital to preserve such special objects and landscapes. In the long run, it is reasonable for the state to consider how much peat cutting we will do, where we do it, and what the balance between the natural world and industry might be."

The Ministry of Climate meanwhile says it believes that peat cutting exerts a significant impact in terms of CO2 emissions.

Laura Remmelgas, head of the climate department at the ministry, said: "What the CO2 emissions target for the land use sector will be by 2030 is still a matter of negotiation, and this will be done during the process of drafting the climate law."

Kersti Rannamäe, advisor at the Estonian Peat Association (Eesti Turbaliit), meanwhile said that the current data considers cut peat to be an immediate environmental emission, even as it is not.

"In reality, this peat can last for nearly 200 years, so the real emission is spread over this period, while even then, about 20 percent remains," she said.

Nonetheless, the Ministry of Climate has no plans to issue any new peat cutting permits.

Remmelgas said: "The plan is to halt the issuance of new permits for new peat cutting areas until the climate law is adopted."

Remmelgas said it is yet to be determined whether new areas solely refer to those that have never been exploited before, or if expanding an existing peat production area, as planned by the Pärnu County company Nurme Turvas, constitutes a new area.

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