US President Barack Obama today announced a series of steps as part of his

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comprehensive strategy to enhance American energy independence while building a foundation for a new clean energy economy, and its promise of new industries and millions of jobs.

At a meeting with a bipartisan group of governors from around the country, Obama laid out three measures that will work in concert to boost biofuels production and reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized a rule to implement the long-term renewable fuels standard of 36 billion gallons by 2022 established by Congress, said the White House.

Also the US Department of Agriculture has proposed a rule on the Biomass Crop Assistance Program that would provide financing to increase the conversion of biomass to bioenergy.

The President's Biofuels Interagency Working Group released its first report – Growing America's Fuel, which lays out a strategy to advance the development and commercialisation of a sustainable biofuels industry to meet or exceed the nation's biofuels targets.

In addition, Obama announced a Presidential Memorandum creating an Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage to develop a comprehensive and coordinated federal strategy to speed the development and deployment of clean coal technologies.