1. Concern about climate change and energy security is stimulating land-use change, which in turn precipitates social, economic and environmental responses. It is predicted that within 20 years in the UK, bioenergy crops could occupy significant areas of rural land. Among these, dedicated biomass crops, such as Miscanthus ( Miscanthus spp.) grass and short rotation willow ( Salix spp.) coppice, differ significantly from arable crops in their growth characteristics and management. It is important that the potential impacts of these differences are assessed before large-scale, long-term planting occurs. 2. We used a Sustainability Appraisal Framework (SAF) approach to landscape planning in the UK to identify stakeholder aspirations (objectives) and associated criteria (indicators) for the planting of dedicated biomass crops. 3. The use of environmental and physical constraints mapping allowed the SAF to focus only on environmentally-acceptable locations, thereby avoiding unsustainable trade-offs. The mapping identified 3·1 million ha of land in England as suitable for planting, suggesting the UK government target of 1·1 million ha by 2020 is feasible. 4. Evaluation of the SAF identified that while biodiversity was of concern to stakeholders, some current indicators of biodiversity are not appropriate. Butterfly abundance proved the most appropriate indicator, and it was found that total abundance was greater in field margins of both willow and Miscanthus biomass crops than in arable field margins. 5. Synthesis and applications. The potential conflicts of assuring food security, water availability, energy security and biodiversity conservation are recognized as a key challenge by governments worldwide. Methods with which decision-makers can compare the performance of different land-use scenarios against sustainability objectives will be crucial for achieving optimized and sustainable use of land-based resources to meet all four challenges. Using biomass crops planting as an example, this work illustrates the potential of a Sustainability Appraisal Framework, subject to identification and agreement of appropriate indicators, in securing a holistic understanding of the wide-ranging implications of large-scale, long-term changes to rural land-use in the wider context of sustainable land-use planning per se .

This paper defines the potentially available land for perennial energy crops across Great Britain as the first component of a broader appraisal undertaken by the 'Spatial Modelling of Bioenergy in Great Britain to 2050' project. Combining data on seven primary constraints in a GIS reduced the available area to just over 9 M ha (40% of GB). Adding other restrictions based on land cover naturalness scores to represent landscape considerations resulted in a final area of 8.5 M ha (37% of GB). This distribution was compared with the locations of Miscanthus and SRC willow established under the English Energy Crop Scheme during 2001-2011 and it was found that 83% of the planting fell within the defined available land. Such a correspondence provides confidence that the factors considered in the analysis were broadly consistent with previous planting decisions.

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Public attitudes were assessed towards two dedicated biomass crops -Miscanthus and Short Rotation Coppice (SRC), particularly regarding their visual impacts in the landscape. Results are based on responses to photographic and computer-generated images as the crops are still relatively scarce in the landscape. A questionnaire survey indicated little public concern about potential landscape aesthetics but more concern about attendant built infrastructure. Focus group meetings and interviews indicated support for biomass end uses that bring direct benefits to local communities. Questions arise as to how well the imagery used was able to portray the true nature of these tall, dense, perennial plants but based on the responses obtained and given the caveat that there was limited personal experience of the crops, it appears unlikely that wide-scale planting of biomass crops will give rise to substantial public concern in relation to their visual impact in the landscape.Keywords: public attitudes; biomass crops; visual landscape impacts; landscape visualisation that there was up to 15,500 ha of SRC and Miscanthus planted in the country with the potential for the area of perennial energy crops to expand to 350,000 ha by 2020 (Defra, DTI and DfT 2007). This would translate to planting on around 10 % of arable land in some regions. However, the cultivation cycle for SRC and Miscanthus is different to most current rural land uses; the rootstock is in place for 7-25 years, harvest is normally in early spring (February-March), annually for Miscanthus and approximately every third year for SRC. When mature these crops are dense and tall (3-5 m), and they may also be planted in large blocks for practical reasons relating to cultivation and harvesting. If the overall area of these crops is to be greatly expanded, there is clearly potential to modify the rural landscape, with particular implications for visual appearance, and thereby cultural heritage and tourism, as well as farm incomes, 3 hydrology and biodiversity (Upreti 2004, Rowe et al. 2009, Haughton et al. 2009).Concerns about these crops" potential impact have also been expressed by various wildlife and rural NGOs (Wildlife and Countryside Link 2007).Such issues are of interest to a range of government agencies and NGOs, and this has stimulated discussion regarding the development of planning policies and tools to maximise the benefits of planting and minimise adverse effects (e.g. English Heritage 2006, Defra 2004. As with other choices of agricultural crop, planning permission is not required for the planting of Miscanthus or SRC, but in most cases some restrictions and guidelines will be applicable under Defra"s Energy Crops Scheme (Natural England 2009), without whose support these crops are not usually economically viable. Few of these specifically relate to landscape, but a site visit is required which considers, among other factors, the "impact of proposed plantings on surrounding landscape and land use". Applicants are directed to the Code of Good Agricultural P...