Environmental impact assessment, ecosystems services and the case of energy crops in England

Aggidis, G.A., Luchinskaya, E., Rothschild, R. & Howard, D.C. (2010) The costs of small-scale hydro power production: Impact on the development of existing potential. Renewable Energy, 35, 2632-2638. Berners-Lee, M., Howard, D.C., Moss, J., Kaivanto, K. & Scott, W.A. (2011) Greenhouse gas footprinting for small businesses - The use of input-output data. Science of the Total Environment, 409, 883-891. Bunce, R.G.H., Metzger, M.J., Jongman, R.H.G., Brandt, J., De Blust, G., Elena-Rossello, R., Groom, G.B., Halada, L., Hofer, G., Howard, D.C., Kovar, P., Mucher, C.A., Padoa-Schioppa, E., Paelinx, D., Palo, A., Perez-Soba, M., Ramos, I.L., Roche, P., Skanes, H. & Wrbka, T. (2008) A standardized procedure for surveillance and monitoring European habitats and provision of spatial data. Landscape Ecology, 23, 11-25. Burgess, P.J., Casado, M.R., Gavu, J., Mead, A., Cockerill, T., Lord, R., van der Horst, D. & Howard, D.C. (2012) A framework for reviewing the trade-offs between, renewable energy, food, feed and wood production at a local level. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16, 129-142. Coleby, A.M., van der Horst, D., Hubacek, K., Goodier, C., Burgess, P.J., Graves, A., Lord, R. & Howard, D. (2012) Environmental Impact Assessment and Ecosystems Services: the case of energy crops in England Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 55, 369-385. Howard, D.C., Wadsworth, R.A., Whitaker, J.W., Hughes, N. & Bunce, R.G.H. (2009) The impact of sustainable energy production on land use in Britain through to 2050. Land Use Policy, 26, S284-S292. Rowe, R., Chapman, J., Whittaker, J., Howard, D. & Taylor, G. (2008) A systematic review of life cycle assessments of bioenergy chains for heat, power and liquid transportation fuel. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology a-Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 150, S182-S182. Rowe, R., Whitaker, J., Freer-Smith, P.H., Chapman, J., Ryder, S., Ludley, K., Howard, D.C. & Taylor, G. (2011) Counting the cost of carbon in bioenergy systems: sources of variation and hidden pitfalls when comparing life cycle assessments. . Biofuels, 2, 693-707. Whitaker, J., Ludley, K.E., Rowe, R., Taylor, G. & Howard, D.C. (2010) Sources of variability in greenhouse gas and energy balances for biofuel production: a systematic review. Global Change Biology Bioenergy, 2, 99-112. A consequence of the increased requirements for renewable energy is likely to be allocation of more land to bio-energy crop production. Recent regulatory changes in England, as in other parts of the UK, mean that changes in land-use are increasingly subject to screening through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This paper reviews these regulatory changes and explores the potential benefits of incorporating a fuller examination of ecosystem services within EIA procedures. The authors argue that such an approach could help achieve sustainability by identifying the best options within an area, rather than concentrating on the negative effects of selected proposed projects. It could also help highlight the benefits provided by existing and proposed agricultural, forestry, peri-urban and urban systems. However, successful implementation of an ecosystem services approach would also require a greater understanding of the societal preferences for the full range of ecosystem services at a landscape scale, as well as the trade-offs and synergies between uses of specific services