The disturbing news this morning is a study showing the carbon emissions of Chinese made solar panels compared to European made solar panels. The study recommends a ‘carbon tariff’ be put in place and many have not heard something so ridiculous.

How can we (as we have been doing for years and years) buy cheap technology, digital goods, clothes and so many other products from China, made from low-priced labour and heavy coal use, suddenly now decide to implement a carbon tax on the only product that is helping the world reduce carbon emissions?! The idea is absolutely absurd! Furthermore, if you look at the big picture, the idea seems even more ridiculous.

The study says that European solar panels emit 32g CO2-e/kWh while Chinese solar panels emit 68g. Therefore Chinese solar panels emit double that of European panels. However, this is the small and rather narrow-minded view. The bigger picture shows these tiny figures against that of coal-fired generation which can emit around 1400g CO2-e/kWh.

In addition, many countries around the world export their heavy industry (and the emissions that go with it) to China. This means that if we take consumption into account rather than manufacturing, Europe would have 20% higher emissions and the US would have 10% higher emissions while China would have 21% LESS emissions – BUT somehow it’s fair to put a carbon tariff on Chinese solar panels and no other products.

It is also important to remember that China is one of the main reasons why solar power systems are available and affordable today. Seven out of the top 10 solar companies in the world are based in China. Then we wonder why their emissions are so high? In the same breathe, China also has renewable energy targets they are striving to achieve in order to curb some of the dirty-energy usage and emissions.

China has created employment, increased the uptake of solar panels by reducing the cost and helped to reduce carbon emissions around the world. Any ‘tariff’ increasing the cost of solar will have knock-on effects in all these departments which will affect solar power around the world.

“I’m all for a global carbon tax, but one just for solar panels is a lot more about protectionism than it is about environmentalism,” says Lindsay Wilson from ‘Shrink That Footprint.’ “We can’t spend decades filling our homes with cheap goods made in China, from cheap labor and un-taxed dirty energy, and then decide we need a carbon tariff just for solar panels (a technology that helps to cut carbon).”