The GE Show: Energy & Dynamic Braking

GE’s ecomagination team is working on a Hybrid Diesel/Electric Locomotive that converts energy dissipated from braking and stores it in a series of batteries for alternative use. This could save railroads up to $425 million dollars in fuel costs per year and dramatically reduce their carbon footprint. See more energy saving innovations at The GE Show.

Energy: you can’t destroy it, but you can certainly waste it. That’s what most motorized vehicles do, including trains. Usually, the energy generated when you stop a moving vehicle is dissipated as heat, and is lost to the atmosphere. With GE’s ecomagination we’ve discovered that you can capture and store that energy, then reuse it – that’s how our hybrid systems work. Watch the video to see a simple illustration of the physics behind dynamic braking. Keep in mind an object’s force is measured in newtons, using the equation force = Mass x Acceleration.