President Bush in his State of the Union Address Tuesday night called for a 20 percent reduction in U.S. gasoline usage over the next 10 years.

The "20 in 10" plan includes a combination of mandates, incentives and innovative policies to reach the energy-reduction goal that will help protect the environment and ensure the security of energy supplies.

The U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, Michael Wood, has made U.S.-Swedish cooperation on alternative-energy development the top priority of the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm. Commenting on the President's plan, Ambassador Wood said, "In his speech Tuesday night President Bush sought a vast, mandatory increase in alternative fuels and greater vehicle efficiency. Some of the necessary technologies are more advanced in Sweden than the U.S. The Embassy wants to make those connections."

President Bush's "20 in 10" plan calls for a nearly fivefold mandatory increase in the production of ethanol and other alternative fuels for cars and trucks. This standard would require the production of 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017.

A second element of the plan calls for increasing fuel-efficiency standards of cars and trucks that will cut projected annual gasoline use in 2017 by 8.5 billion gallons.

By 2017, the renewable-fuel and fuel-efficiency components of the plan would cut the annual projected CO2 emissions from cars and light trucks by as much as 10 percent, about 175 million metric tons - equal to zeroing out the annual emissions of 26 million automobiles.

Ambassador Wood is available to provide quotes and perspective on the President's speech and the Embassy's alternative energy focus. Media calls can be directed to the Public Affairs Section of the Embassy, 08-783-5440.

More information about President Bush's "20 in 10" energy plan is at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2007/initiatives/energy.html.