J. Erik Ness

Jan Erik Ness was born in Oslo, Norway, in 1962 to a Norwegian father and a Danish mother. His father, Magne, was an electrical engineer who worked on hydroelectric power projects, moving Jan Erik and his mother, Inge, to Australia in 1964, and then to Canada in 1968. With the waning popularity of large hydropower schemes, Jan Erik's father switched to teaching marine electronics (he had previously been a morse-code operator in the Norwegian navy), accepting teaching positions in Singapore (1970) and then in Hong Kong (1973).

In 1980, at the age of 17, Jan Erik moved to the U.K. to study at the London School of Economics, where he graduated in 1983. Partly as a result of his childhood experiences and partly as the result of a fortuitous 1984 meeting with Joss Pearson, founder of the influential British publishing company Gaia Books, Jan Erik decided to focus his energies on writing about ecological and environmental issues, with occasional forays into the world of psychology. Pearson exposed Jan Erik to the global approach to ecological issues spearheaded by scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis. In 1990, Jan Erik moved to the United States.

J. Erik Ness, who often goes by the name "Erik," is sometimes confused with another U.S. environmental writer called Erik Ness, who writes articles for Grist magazine and other publications.

Today Jan Erik lives in the town of Golden, Colorado, with his son Alexander (born in 1993). Jan Erik works for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, promoting the use of low-impact renewable and energy efficiency technologies, focusing on American Indian lands, where as many as 40% of tribal households are without electricity. He is also working with Haiti to help the country switch from its reliance on expensive and polluting imported fossil fuels to indigenous renewable resources, particularly wind energy. During 2010, he co-managed the U.S. Department of Treasury's "1603 Program," which was credited with keeping the U.S. solar and wind industry from collapsing during that country's economic recession.

Some of Jan Erik's publications:

"Setting the Foundation for Gigawatt-Scale Renewable Energy," 2007 NREL Research Review -- How hydrogen energy storage can be used to improve the integration of wind and solar technologies into the electricity grid.

Lightweight, Flexible, Thin-Film Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide Photovoltaic Modules (2004) -- A successful "R&D 100" award nomination.

"Winds of Change: Offsetting CO2 Emissions with Wind Energy," 2003 NREL Research Review.

Scenarios of U.S. Carbon Reductions: Potential Impacts of Energy Technologies by 2010 and Beyond (coauthor, 1997) -- This report formed the scientific basis of the Clinton Administration's stance on climate change policy at the Kyoto climate negotiations.

Dollars from Sense: The Economic Benefits of Renewable Energy (1997) -- An outreach publication that provided the financial arguments necessary for state representatives to convince their legislatures to implement more renewable energy projects.

Mitigation of Environmental Impacts on Indian Lands Due to Department of Defense Activities (editor, 1995) -- A 700-page environmental restoration manual written for Indian tribes.

What the Eye Reveals (coauthor, 1995) -- A book on personality types and relationship patterns written with psychologist Denny Johnson.

The Gaia Peace Atlas (coauthor and editor, 1988) -- This sequel to the original Gaia atlas (below) analyzed the impact of militarization on the global environment.

Gaia: An Atlas of Planet Management (coauthor, 1985) -- The first comprehensive analysis of humanity's impact on the global ecology, this was the top-selling environmental book of the 1980s. Published in 15 countries and 13 languages, "Gaia" was endorsed by the Secretary General of the United Nations and was included in the World Wildlife Fund's "Seeds of the Future" time capsule in London in 1985. Jan Erik researched and wrote most of the chapter on the impact of Civilizations.