The opportunity
Globally, trains dissipate ~700 tWh/year of braking energy electricity as waste heat, which is more than all but 5 countries use annually.
Currently, the rail industry is on track to emit 85Mt+ CO2 annually, but options to decarbonize – like electrification and hydrogen – will require significant infrastructure investments and time to scale.
Did you know?
Almost every freight and passenger train in the world already utilizes energy braking and has since the 1970s. Just like in EVs and hybrid cars, the forward kinetic energy of the train is converted into electrical energy during a braking event. In rail, this energy braking system is known as "Dynamic Braking" and utilizes larges banks of resistor grids and fans that literally burn off the substanial amount of electricity that is produced during each braking manuever.
For over 50 years, this enormous amount of energy has been wasted in rail operations. CO2Rail uses it to power carbon removal processes and remove CO2 from both ambient air and emissions from diesel-powered trains.
Train energy braking at night burning off its immense kinetic energy