The US Department of Energy has announced a $300m plan to build 542 alternative fuel stations across the country.

The plan also includes buying nearly 9,000 vehicles for the country’s roads that would run on alternative fuels such as natural gas, renewable gas, propane, ethanol and biodiesel.

The plan is aimed at cutting petroleum use in the country and is expected to save nearly 38 million gallons of petroleum a year.

The new fleet includes hybrid, electric and plug-in electric hybrids as well as hydraulic hybrids and compressed natural gas vehicles.

The funds for the project come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act under the clean cities programme.

The programme is a government-industry partnership working towards cutting petroleum use in US transport and is being sponsored by the Department of Energy’s vehicle technologies programme.

The department has selected 25 cost-share projects under the programme.