Natural Resources

Ireland's natural Resources include the following:

• natural gas, peat, copper, lead,zinc, silver, barite, gypsum, limestone, dolomite

Peat is a spongy material containing waterlogged mosses and plants. Farmers will cut and dry blocks of peat for cooking and heating. Also the Republic of Ireland recently developed a strategy for using peat in power plants, which now produces nearly one quarter of the nation's electricity.