Robert H. Essenhigh

 Credentials

• Ph.D., Fuel Technology and Chemical Engineering, University of Sheffield (1959).
• M.S., Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge (1955).
• B.A., Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge (1951).

Source: [1]

 Background

Essenhigh is a professor of mechanical engineering whose main focus is in the area of combustion. He has studied the effect of chemical kinetics on the rate of coal combustion.

Stance on Climate Change

Essenhigh believes that after the next 20 years, the Earth "will begin to cool into a new ice age."

• "'At 6 billion tons, humans are then responsible for a comparatively small amount - less than 5 percent - of atmospheric carbon dioxide,' he said. 'And if nature is the source of the rest of the carbon dioxide, then it is difficult to see that man-made carbon dioxide can be driving the rising temperatures. In fact, I don't believe it does.'" [2]

• "The outcome is that the global warming advocate’s conclusion on the role of CO2 evidently has it back to front: It’s the temperature that is driving the CO2. If there are flaws in these propositions, I’m listening; but if there are objections, let’s have them with the numbers." [3]

Key Quotes

"On the issue of carbon dioxide and global warming, the question at issue really is, 'Does carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion cause global warming?' There does appear to be a common consensus view; but, the available data not only does not support this common consensus view, but supports the contrary position. That is that it is the naturally rising temperature that is driving up the carbon dioxide. This finding not only absolves man as the cause of global warming, but also raises major questions about the economic impact of attempting to control carbon dioxide emissions, particularly if this is a waste of time and resources." [4]

Key Deeds

Essenhigh was a signatory of a 2006 open letter to Stephen Harper titled "Open Kyoto to Debate." The letter implies that global warming science is made up of "predetermined political agendas," and states that "allocating funds to 'stopping climate change' would be irrational."

He also signed a 2007 open letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations which claims that the "UN climate conference is taking the World in entirely the wrong direction" and that no attempts should be made to stop or slow climate change.

 Affiliations

• The Heartland Institute — "Expert." [5]

 Publications

A search of 22,000 academic journals shows that, Essenhigh has published over 45 peer-reviewed research articles mainly in the area of combustion.

Sample Publications

• "DOES CO2 REALLY DRIVE GLOBAL WARMING?", Energy & Environment, Volume 12, Number 4 (July 2001).

• "Potential Dependence of Global Warming on the Residence Time (RT) in the Atmosphere of Anthropogenically Sourced Carbon Dioxide," Energy Fuels, 2009, 23 (5), pp 2773–2784. A publication of the American Chemical Society.

• "Prediction of the Standard Atmosphere Profiles of Temperature, Pressure, and Density with Height for the Lower Atmosphere by Solution of the (S−S) Integral Equations of Transfer and Evaluation of the Potential for Profile Perturbation by Combustion Emissions," Energy Fuels, 2006, 20 (3), pp 1057–1067.  A publication of the American Chemical Society.

 Resources

1. "Robert H. Essenhigh," Profile at the Ohio State University. Archived March 7, 2008.

2. "Global Warming Natural, May End Within 20 Years, Says Ohio State University Researcher," ScienceDaily, June 15, 2001.

3. "Does CO2 really drive global warming?", (viewpoint) Chemical Innovation Vol. 31 (#5: May): pp. 44-46; 2001. Republished by earthlink.net. Note: Chemical Innovation is a journal of the American Chemical Society.

4. "Global warming counteroffensive: send out the skeptics," Daily Kos, July 5, 2006.

5. "Heartland Experts: Robert Essenhigh," Accessed December 8, 2011.

6. "Peer-reviewed skeptic papers by Robert Essenhigh," SkepticalScience. Accessed December 8, 2011.