Interview: Professor Andrew Blakers explains, again, how renewable sources can fully decarbonise energy in Australia

"I’ve done the sums. All we need is 1,200 square kilometres. That’s not much. The area devoted to agriculture is about 3,500 times larger at 4.2 million square kilometres. The area of land that would be taken away from agriculture works out at about 45 square metres per person – about the size of a large living room. "We can ditch fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse emissions with negligible impact on agriculture. And, in many cases, farmers can be paid for hosting renewable energy infrastructure while continuing to run sheep and cows or grow crops." So says a Professor of Engineering from the Australian National University, Professor Andrew Blakers (pictured), in an article published in The Conversation: "No threat to farmland: just 1,200 square kilometres can fulfil Australia’s solar and wind energy needs". Professor Blakers visited Mooroopna, just across the Goulburn River from Shepparton, several years ago as one of about three speakers at a climate change forum organised by the Shepparton-based group, "Slap Tomorrow". The convenor of Zero Carbon Tatura, Terry Court, also on the Goulburn Valley-based GV Community Energy board, joined me for the conversation with Professor Blakers.