The California Energy Commission has adopted the state's first transportation investment plan.

The Alternative and Renewable Fuels and Vehicle Technology Program's (ARFVTP) Investment Plan allocates $176 million over the next two years to stimulate green transportation projects and encourage innovation to help meet the state's aggressive climate change policies.

"The Alternative and Renewable Fuels and Vehicle Technology Program provides much needed funding to support deployment of clean fuels and vehicles," said Energy Commission Chairman Karen Douglas. "It also provides a unique opportunity to help California compete for billions of dollars in federal stimulus dollars."

The ARFVTP was established by Assembly Bill 118 and is an essential element of California's climate change and energy policies. The state is aggressively working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, decrease petroleum fuel use to 15 percent below 2003 levels by 2020 and increase alternative fuel use to 20 percent by 2020.

Achieving these multiple objectives will require a portfolio of new fuels and vehicle technologies, including electric drive and fuel cell vehicles, low-carbon biofuels, gasoline and diesel vehicles with far greater fuel economy, and natural gas and propane vehicles.

AB 118 authorizes the Energy Commission to provide approximately $120 million annually over seven years to develop these new fuels and technologies, ensure that they are accessible to the public, and encourage motorists and fleet operators to purchase new advanced vehicles.

The Investment Plan recognizes the importance of leveraging existing federal, state and local funding with public and private cost sharing. The Energy Commission's first AB 118 grant solicitation, released April 22, is focused on those who are applying to the federal government under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for the funding of transportation projects.

The Investment Plan is available at www.energy.ca.gov/proceedings/2008-ALT-1/documents/index.html#042209

More information about the Alternative and Renewable Fuels and Vehicle Technology Program is available at: www.energy.ca.gov/altfuels/