The Kansas City Regional
Clean Cities Coalition (KCRCCC) is a partner
of the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean
Cities Program. The mission of the National
Clean Cities Program is to advance the
economic, environmental, and energy securities
of the United States by supporting local
decisions to adopt practices that contribute
to reduced petroleum consumption in the
transportation sector.
The KCRCCC is a network of public and private partners seeking to build the awareness
and use of alternative fuels in fleets throughout the Kansas City area. The network
consists of public and private fleet operators, alternative fuel providers, vehicle
manufacturers and distributors, and others interested in improving air quality
and reducing the use of foreign oil.
The KCRCCC received its initial designation on November 18, 1998 and was re-designated
June 16, 2004. The coalition is administrated by the Metropolitan Energy Center
(located at 3808 Paseo, Kansas City MO). The first KCRCCC Coordinator was Benjamin
Watson. He served as Coordinator until August of 2005.
Kansas Co-Chair: Michael Boothe, Johnson County, Kansas Environmental Department
Missouri Co-Chair: Sam Swearngin, KCMO Water Department
Plug-in
Hybrid Electric Vehicle Project In 2004, a consortium consisting
of the Metropolitan Energy Center,
the Kansas City Area Transportation
Authority and the Electric Power
Research Institute was formed
to undertake an
investigation into the production
of a “ proof of concept” (POC),
plug-in (or on-grid) Hybrid Electric
Bus. This work is being undertaken
as the first-ever “Joint Partnership
Program” through the Federal
Transit Administration. The goal is
to design, build and demonstrate a
PHEV bus as a first step to commercialization.
To accomplish this, the consortium
has partnered with DaimlerChrysler
and will be building the bus using
their “Sprinter” chasse.
The bus will be sized as a Para-transit
vehicle.
How
is a “plug-in hybrid” different
than most hybrid vehicles on the market?
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles can
be plugged in to the electric power
grid to
charge their
batteries. They can also use an internal
combustion engine as a supplementary
power source when needed. A plug-in
electric hybrid acts as an alternative
to petroleum-powered
vehicles and helps reduce dependency
on
oil
imports. Annually, a plug-in hybrid
would consume less than 25% of the
petroleum
of a compact sedan and less than 10%
of the
petroleum used by a full-size SUV.
The
Kansas City Regional Clean Cities Coalition
