Access to reliable energy has been a key challenge for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau—a region which has relied on yak dung for energy needs for decades. While this form of energy can satisfy the basic needs for cooking and heating in this pastoral area, it cannot meet the needs of various household appliances and the improvement of working/production tools needed to boost living standards in these communities. Further, it produces significant indoor and outdoor pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Wind and solar, supplemented with in-home energy storage, would be efficient and affordable green low-carbon alternatives and the Plateau offers the right conditions for these resources to thrive. The researchers are studying an alternative energy program in the region and are providing a demonstration model to improve living conditions, economic productivity and social mobility through innovative policies and practices to promote wind and solar.