After an early career working with Exxon, the Ontario Research Foundation and the Ontario Ministry of Energy, in 1977 Kirk Brown became the Director of Research for the newly-formed Institute of Man and Resources in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.
In that position, and in a subsequent role he took on with the PEI Energy Commission, Kirk worked at the heart of the Island's response to the energy crisis of the mid-1970s. Along the way he was instrumental in the establishment of a district heating system in Charlottetown, the establishment of the Atlantic Wind Test site in North Cape, and in all manner of research toward making PEI more energy independent.
I sat down with Kirk at my office in Charlottetown for a wide-ranging conversation about his work on the energy issue, and about the lessons we might bring forward from that last "energy crisis" to apply to today's climate change-related energy issues.
Cast:Peter Rukavina
Tags:energy, prince edward island, pei, institute of man and resources, exxon, canada, wood heat, wind, electricity, research, 1977 and 1970s