A visually stunning video of General Electric that explains the hybrid dynamic braking (a system that recaptures energy from the brakes of a train) using animated statistics and household objects.

The basic idea behind the dynamic braking comes from the law of conservation of energy, which tells us that energy – like the kinetic energy of a moving train – cannot disappear, only be diffused or transformed. Most brake systems make the first, dissipating energy as heat. To show how much energy is lost, the GE dramatizes the result by throwing objects such as balls, Christmas ornaments, and tomatoes in ballistic gel that absorbs the brunt.

The dynamic braking system of GE works like the ballistics gel: Converts and stores part of the energy that is lost, and uses it to power the train again. But for how much energy talking; The energy released when a 207 tonne locomotive is braked in one year is enough to power 160 households for that year.