A proposed framework for determining the environmental impact of replacing agricultural grassland with Miscanthus in Ireland ALISON DONNELLY * , DAVID STYLES *, JOANNE FITZGERALD w and J O H N F I N N A N w *Centre for the Environment and Department of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, wTeagasc, Oak Park Research Centre, Carlow, Ireland Abstract Energy crops offer an opportunity to substantially increase bioenergy resources which can replace rapidly depleting fossil fuel reserves and mitigate the effect of climate change. Energy crops are typically established within traditional agricultural systems such as tillage land or grassland. Associated land use conversion has environmental implications. The aim of this paper is to propose a framework to examine how such environmental implications can be assessed, based on (a) a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) approach which considers potential impacts at different stages of a plan across a wide range of environmental receptors and (b) a literature review. The example we used was that of Miscanthus replacing grassland farming. This scenario is particularly relevant to Ireland, where over 90% of the agricultural land is permanent pasture, but is also applicable to grassland conversion throughout Europe and the United States. Two consecutive phases of land-use change were identified for assessment, each with a distinct set of environmental impacts. The first was a transition phase, lasting from initial livestock clearance and grassland ploughing until the Miscanthus crop became established (2–3 years). The second phase was the mature crop phase, lasting up to 25 years. Miscanthus cultivation was more likely to impact negatively on the environment during the transition phase than the mature phase, primarily due to abrupt disturbance and the time required for a new equilibrium to establish. However, a literature review of the impact on the environmental receptors revealed that replacing Irish agricultural grassland with Miscanthus had the potential to improve biodiversity, water, air and soil quality, and climatic factors once the crop became established and reached maturity. In order to confirm these findings an appropriate monitoring pro- gramme involving objectives and indicators associated with each environmental receptor would need to be developed. Keywords: grassland, Ireland, Miscanthus, strategic environmental assessment Received 30 July 2010; revised version received 8 October 2010 and accepted 9 November 2010 Introduction The growing global trend towards the greater use of biomass-based sources for energy generation with a corresponding lesser dependence on fossil fuels could have far reaching implications for traditional agricul- tural landscapes. In general, biomass crops are being established on land previously used for conventional food crops, resulting in displacement of conventional crop production. This trend is being driven by the need for industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet stringent targets established by the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Con- vention on Climate Change (United Nations, 1998) in order to mitigate climate warming. Under this protocol, Ireland as a member of the EU, is committed to limit greenhouse gas emissions to 13% above the 1990 con- centrations in the 2010–2012 period. Under EU directive (2009/28/EC), also known as the 20-20-20 targets the EU has committed to reduce emissions by 20% by 2020 when compared with 1990 levels, with 20% of energy Correspondence: Alison Donnelly, tel. 1 353 1 896 1641, fax 1 353 1 896 1147, e-mail: Alison.Donnelly@tcd.ie GCB Bioenergy (2011) 3, 247–263, doi: 10.1111/j.1757-1707.2010.01086.x r 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 247