During a White House meeting with state governors and Cabinet members, including Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Obama said that "by 2022, we will more than double the amount of biofuels we produce to 36 billion gallons, which will decrease our dependence on foreign oil by hundreds of millions of barrels per year".

"We're also working to make sure that we can start turning things like plants and woodchips into heat, power, and biofuels, and that will create new economic opportunities for rural communities," he said.

Noting that the US has vast stores of coal, Obama announced a "Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force that will be charged with the goal of figuring out how we can deploy affordable clean coal technology on a widespread scale within 10 years".

Interestingly the President again emphasised the importance of a clean energy agenda for creating jobs, as he did in the State of the Union address – without linking it to passage of cap-and-trade climate legislation.

"Even if you don't believe in the severity of climate change, as I do," Obama told the governors, "you still should want to pursue this agenda.

"It's good for our national security and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

"It's good for our economy because it will produce jobs."

Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis said the policies laid out by Mr Obama add "muscle to the bone by investing in new technologies, reforming the loan guarantees for cellulosic ethanol to encourage the development of this cutting-edge fuel, and equipping government facilities with Flex Fuel Vehicles.

"Each of these steps help address many of the challenges and opportunities we have to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create US jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."