Examples of ingredients line a table at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston as participants in a biofuels symposium sponsored by URI and the University of Connecticut tour a laboratory.

The Providence Journal / John Freidah

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — At the University of Rhode Island, researchers are working to turn switchgrass into a renewable fuel. The team led by Prof. Albert Kausch says the hardy grass, which can grow up to 10 feet tall, could one day be an alternative to fossil fuels just as ethanol or biodiesel are today.

The work being conducted inside URI’s Plant Biotechnology Laboratory is the type of project that was lauded at a recent conference on renewable fuels at the university’s Kingston campus.

Speaker after speaker at the Biofuels Symposium sponsored by URI and the University of Connecticut told the approximately 200 people in attendance that developing new sources of fuel is not only crucial to energy independence for the United States but is also an important part of pulling the nation out of recession.

“The promise of the clean-energy economy is limitless,” U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said in a video message. “Rhode Island and our neighbors can be leaders.”

The global biofuels market is growing fast, with sales reaching $34.8 billion last year and expected to triple in the next 10 years, according to the technology research firm Clean Edge. Rhode Island is indeed working to get a foothold in the industry, said J. Michael Saul, interim director of the state Economic Development Corporation.

Saul pointed to the switchgrass project at URI, which is being funded with federal money, and also referred to Newport Biodiesel, which recycles used cooking oil, and Tomorrow Biofuels, a Cranston company that is working with algae to create biodiesel.

Unlike most oil used in Rhode Island and the rest of the country, biofuels are derived from local sources, processed locally and sold locally, so any profits generated at each step stay local.

“It’s a key to stimulating our state’s economy,” Saul said in a speech at the May 29 conference.

Much of the demand for fossil fuels in New England is driven by the home heating-oil market, said URI researcher Kenneth Payne. Nationally, only 9 percent of homes use heating oil. Compare that with the rate in Connecticut, which stands at 52 percent, or Massachusetts at 39 percent and Rhode Island at 42 percent.

Payne called the reliance on fossil fuels in the region “an addiction.”

“We are heavily dependent on fossils fuels for home heating,” he said. “It’s a great challenge for us.”

He said Rhode Island must continue to support research into biofuels and must also support entrepreneurs who are trying to bring alternative fuels to the market.

“As we do this, we have to think about how this creates jobs,” Payne said.

Connecticut is also trying to stimulate the renewable-fuels industry. The federally funded Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology provides grants and helps find other sources of funding for innovative businesses, according to Joel Rinebold, director of the center’s energy initiatives.

Both Rinebold and Payne said the potential market for renewable fuels is huge. They said it’s up to government agencies, such the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, to support the development of the industry.

“The market awaits,” Rinebold said.

akuffner@projo.com