Solar energy and rethinking geothermal: Arena's hits and misses

As demand for sustainable energy increases, Australia's independent renewable energy agency has to choose to fund some projects over others - to varying degrees of success

As any punter will know, backing winners isn't easy. There's a little bit of science, a little bit of art and a whole lot of luck.

Australia's independent renewable energy agency came into being in 2012 though an act of parliament, with a $2.5bn, 10-year mission to improve the affordability of renewable energy and increase its supply in Australia. It hasn't been smooth sailing; this year Arena was facing a $1.3bn budget cut but this was commuted to a smaller but still significant $500m.