SEPTA thinks train and trolley brakes do more than just make noise; the agency believes brakes produce electrical energy that can be captured and re-used.

KYW’s Tony Romeo reports Laurie Actman of Viridity Energy says her firm has a partnership agreement with SEPTA to recapture lost energy from the Market-Frankford trains and Route 15 trolleys:

“They’re producing it by braking, and then it’s disappearing in the ether. By installing a large scale battery and connecting it to SEPTA’s power system, we’re going to be able to basically capture and store the power [and] recycle it back into SEPTA’s system.”

The SEPTA project was one of 40 clean energy projects that received state and federal grants announced by Governor Rendell this past week. The governor used the occasion to push for legislative action to increase solar energy usage requirements in the state, another agenda item that seems likely to languish in the final months of Rendell’s term.