Peat is an all-rounder and is used in growing media to improve soils. In order to be able to extract natural peat, peatlands have to be drained – with devastating effects on the ecosystem. The Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB) has now filed two patents for innovative technologies for the quick and scalable production of artificial peat. The sustainable alternative to natural peat can be produced within minutes instead of millennia.