Shock Absorbers' Motion Powers Vehicle Drivetrain, Saves Energy

Conventional shock absorbers.

If you look hard enough, you can find energy savings almost anywhere.

Three students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology realized one day that the energy produced by the up-and-down motion of a car's shock absorbers could be harnessed instead of being dissipated as heat.

And a new product, the GenShock shock absorber, was born.

Every time the shock absorber moves, an electric generator attached to it creates a small current. This translates to energy savings of 2%–10%, depending on the vehicle's weight and how bumpy the road is. According to GenShock's makers, there's quite a bit of shock absorber travel even on smooth highways.

If a company fleet of thousands of trucks cuts fuel usage by 2%, it can save millions of dollars and prevent emissions of thousands of tons of greenhouse gases.

More, if those trucks travel frequently on one of these highways.