SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Switchgrass doesn’t look much different from what Rhode Islanders can find in their lawns — except it’s much, much longer. It can grow up to 10 feet, even in marginal soil. And it’s a perennial, so it doesn’t need replanting each year.

Yesterday, researchers at the University of Rhode Island thanked U.S. Sen. Jack Reed for sponsoring a $1.5-million appropriation that will help URI’s Plant Biotechnology Laboratory continue working to develop strains of the giant grass as an alternative fuel.

During a news conference outside the new Center for Biotechnology and Life Science under construction at the Kingston campus, URI officials said Reed’s work will help them develop alternatives to gasoline, a fuel that has come with soaring prices and geo-political implications.

“We have to develop alternative sources of energy,” said Jeffrey Seemann, dean of URI’s College of Environment and Life Sciences. He pointed out that URI researchers are working on wind and wave energy projects, while Prof. Albert Kausch is leading efforts to develop switchgrass strains for use in biofuels.

Seemann praised Reed for being a regular on the nightly news, particularly as he accompanied presidential candidate Barack Obama on a trip last month to Afghanistan and Iraq. The dean said he hoped Reed, who has repeatedly been cited as a possible vice presidential candidate, would continue representing Rhode Island instead.

Reed said the demand for oil around the world is growing, and it’s time that alternatives are developed.

Foreign oil, in particular, he said, is a source of high prices and political tensions in such countries as Iraq and Georgia.

“Domestic production of oil will not be the salvation,” Reed said. “We need alternatives. Switchgrass will take the pressure off corn and other food stuffs.”

The use of corn to produce ethanol has been criticized because it has helped drive record high corn prices.

Kausch said switchgrass is native to the western prairies. He is trying to develop strains that will provide higher yields while remaining infertile so they won’t breed with wild grasses.

“This is what American ingenuity is all about,” Kausch said.

Researchers are still developing the technology to convert switchgrasses into fuel. Kausch said he thinks in 3 to 5 years he will have developed the new grasses and others will have perfected the technologies to put them to work.

plord@projo.com