Chaergoumen Village

Chaergoumen village is located in the Qinghai province of China. It was the site of the Amity Foundation's fist solar cooking project is the region.
==FAQ==
1. What is the size of Chaergoumen village? Do most of the families in Chaergoumen village use solar cooking?
Chaergoumen Village has a population of 1317 people and is one of the larger villages in Qinghai province. Most of the families in this village use solar cooking.
2. Are there communities or villages in China where most or all of the residents are using solar cooking?
Chaergoumen is one of the villages using solar cooking. There are also other villages in Qinghai Province, Tibet, and Gansu where most of the residents are using solar cooking.
3. How did the Amity Foundation's solar cooking project begin?
Amity started the solar cooking project around in late 1990's in Tibet. In the rural and poor areas in Tibet, the local people have to use dry cattle dung or grass and its root to cook since the local people are difficult to be access to wood, coal or gas for cooking, which is detrimental to the envirnoment protection and can cause soil erosition. Solar energy is plentiful in Tibet and the idea of starting a solar cooking project came to Amity staff's  when they visited with the local people. Amity raised some money for a solar cooking project and began implementation in different districts in Tibet first. Seeing the significant benefits that this project was bringing to the local people and the environment, Amity Foundation started a larger four-year solar cooking project in Qinghai.
4. How does Amity fund its solar cooking project?
We raise the money for solar cooking project mainly from overseas organizations and individuals.
5. Who is your solar stove supplier?
Since solar stove is not a high-tech product, it is supplied by local enterprises considering reducing transportation costs
6. What kind of solar stoves is Amity using?
All are parabolic cookers.
7. Who is your local partner in China?
In Qinghai, our local partner is Association of Science and Technology.
8. Is there someone with the Chinese government who is in charge of promoting solar cooking in China whom I may contact?
Since solar cooking is only used on a day-to-day basis in rural areas, it doesn't attract much attention from the government. Until now there is no government department on the national level in charge of promoting solar cooking. However, there are Rural Energy Offices in many Provinces or counties which are responsible for all the work related to rural energey. To reach out to national government deparments, contact the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Department of Energy and Environment Protection, Ministry of Agriculture (农业部环保能源司) or Department of Renewable Energy of national energy bureau (国家能源局可再生能源处). Also, Ministry of Science and Technology has also borne some work related to solar cooking. The Amity Foundation has no relationship with the ministries or departments mentioned above on the national level.
==See also==
*Amity Foundation
Category:China
Category:Qinghai