Retrofitting a World Built for Fossil Fuels

(Bloomberg) -- How do we even begin to decarbonize economies when almost everything built in the modern era was designed around fossil fuels?

In the ninth episode of the Bloomberg Originals series , Penn explores how we can renovate everything from electrical grids to air travel and even our homes. In New York City, we see the challenge of retrofitting buildings from famous landmarks to low-income housing. From the top of the Empire State Building, Penn finds out how one of the world’s most visited skyscrapers was reborn from within, earning its owners $13 million in energy savings in the process. Then Penn heads to the Bronx, where he meets the founder of a company helping public buildings like churches adopt climate-friendly appliances.

In a guest segment, climate storyteller Jack Harries discusses countries and industries phasing out dirty energy and how they’ve incorporated the plight of workers in the broader goal of a “just transition.”

(Corrects spelling of Tony Malkin in photo caption of story published March 30.)

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