Florida

As a low-lying island community vulnerable to infrastructure damage due to natural weather hazards, the city of Key West, Florida sought to reduce its dependence on external energy sources and build long-term resilience. With funding support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project, Berkeley Lab developed a Strategic Energy Plan for the community that: 1) identified specific challenges faced and set clear goals; and 2) proposed actionable opportunities to meet these goals together with key stakeholders.

Modern sugarcane is one of the most harvested crops on the planet, used to make products including sugar, molasses, biofuel, and bio-based materials. It also has one of the most complex genetic blueprints. Researchers at Berkeley Lab have successfully mapped out sugarcane’s DNA and identified key areas related to sugar production as well as disease resistance. Crop breeding programs in Florida are utilizing these sugarcane genomic resources to develop more resilient and productive crops for applications including bioenergy and agriculture.