Locomotives
Reducing carbon emissions in our business is largely about locomotive and operational efficiency. Because locomotives have
a life span of 30+ years, BNSF continuously looks at our entire fleet of locomotives, retrofitting and remanufacturing them as
needed to be more fuel-efficient and cleaner-burning.
Today, approximately 90 percent of BNSF’s fleet uses idle-control technology to automatically shut down locomotives not in
use. BNSF has 90 ultra-low-emission locomotives used in switching operations that reduce nitrogen oxide and particulate
matter emissions by 80 to 90 percent and improve fuel efficiency by 25 percent compared with standard switch engines.
BNSF is also aggressively investing in fuel-efficiency technology, including driver-assist systems, rail lubrication and proper
horsepower distribution.
25
Customer
Carbon Reduction
Over the past five years, BNSF has provided customers with individualized reports of their total rail carbon footprint. In 2013, our
analysis showed that customers reduced their total carbon output by more than 30 million metric tons by shipping on our railway
rather than the highway.
Customer carbon reductions afforded by rail efficiency on a yearly basis are equivalent to…
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Energy website, updated October 2013
