OUR COMPANY WILL:Develop and market an irrigation water salinity trimmer for private use by farmers, enabling them to reduce the salinity to tolerable values.

Seek partners in other industries to exploit the full potential of the CapDI desalination technology for agricultural applications, unlocking potential water resources available to farmers, worldwide.

Enter the Dutch market by mid-2015 after a pilot, starting October 2014.

Roll-out Fource irrigation water salinity trimmers into the rest of Europe and beyond, aftersuccessful introduction in The Netherlands.

PRESENTATION DATE 25 SEPTEMBER 2014

PRESENTED TOJURY, CLIMATE KIC BUSINESS CHALLENGE

COMPETITION, ROTTERDAM

PRESENTED BY LODEWIJK STUYT

(ALTERRA, WAGENINGEN UR)

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CONCEPTWhen fresh water is scarce, farmers, operating in coastal zones must occasionally deal with high salinity irrigation water, causing crop da-mage, even in temperate climatic zones. With climate change, this will occur more often. Our business concept / product is Fource: a stand-alone device for decreasing the salinity of water, available at the farm, to be used for crop irrigation.

PAIN OF THE CUSTOMERThe customer is a farmer who irrigates his crops. His pain is the a risk that the salinity of the irrigation water supplied to him gets too high, will damage his crops, and challenge his income as a result. Long, dry spells when fresh water is most needed are the most risky. A Fource desalinati-on device will minimize this risk. The farmer buys security.

VALUE PROPOSITIONUsing Fource, a farmer reduces the salinity of his irrigation water. The cumulative positive effect of a nationwide reduction of 50% on the harvest output is a value increase of €59M, nationwide. The ROI for a typical farmer with 5% crop damage due to salinity would be two years.

MARKETAfter finishing a pilot with our first prototype in October 2014, we will start selling units by mid-2015. When we start selling, a realistic produc-tion/assembly capacity is 50 units per year. We will sell this number of units in the Netherlands when the year 2016 runs out. Given the worldwi-de and rapidly growing salinity problem, the potential market for Fource is estimated to be 10000 units worldwide. Hence, if business goes well, we will expand our business to other European countries, and beyond.

TEAMCEO (Lodewijk Stuyt), a Business Manager sales and an Operational Manager. A five member Advisory Board will support the executive team.

USE OF FUNDS If we win this contest, we will use the prize money to boost the validation of our first prototype, Fource #1, in a field pilot, scheduled to begin in October 2014.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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Executive summary 2

Product / service description 4

State of art 5

Competitive environment 12

Market 16

Business model - Road to Market 20

Current / future business position 23

References 25

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PRODUCT / SERVICE DESCRIPTION CONCEPT

We will start Fource, a company which supplies a device which enables farmers to trim the salinity of brackish irrigation water to tolerable levels, for €17,500.

This is a very interesting deal for farmers living in areas where agricultu-ral crop yields are challenged by (rising) salinity. A user can reduce the salinity of his agricultural waters to a tolerable level for crop irrigation to the level he wants, taking into account the salt tolerances of his crops .At times of scarcity of fresh irrigation water, Fource is the farmer’s affor-dable, flexible and durable fresh water source. It enables him to create fresh water supply safety and -independence. He optimizes his profits (i.e. crop yields), given limited water availability. Fource upgrades the available brackish irrigation water to durable resources, reducing the water footprint of crop production (70% of global water use).

Figure 1: Principle of Fource: a farm water quality trimmer

INTOLERABLE FARMWATER SALINITY

TOLERABLE FARMWATER SALINITY

FARM WATERQUALITY TRIMMER

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WHY FOURCE IS UNIQUEThe controlled desalination or ‘trimming’ of the salinity of irrigation water for agricultural crops - not more than necessary - that Fource provides is unprecedented.

UNDERLYING PATENTS / PROTOTYPES / FACILITIES SUPPORTING FOURCEConventional desalination of water is an energy-intensive and costly process. An energy-efficient desalination method with low maintenance costs and a high water output is of major social and commercial im-portance. For desalination of brackish irrigation water, Fource uses an innovative technique, called Capacitive Deionization (CapDI)1.

CapDI is a technology to deionize water by applying an electrical poten-tial difference over two porous carbon electrodes. Anions (negative char-ge) are removed from the water and stored in the positively polarized electrode. Likewise, cations (positive charge) are stored in the negatively polarized elec-trode. The deionization process is explained in Figure 2.

STATE OF ART

Figure 2: The CapDI-technology, showing the principle.

1

2

3

4

FTC cell: membranes bet-ween positive and negative electrodes

Water with salt enters cells and ions are removed and stored on electrodes.

FTC cell

Water purification

Regeneration stop

Waste stop

Electrodes become saturated with ions, Electrode polarity is reversed and ions are trapped between membranes

Concentrated waste stream is flushed out of cell

AnionCation

AnionCation

AnionCation

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Compared to conventional techniques like reverse osmosis and distilla-tion, CapDI is an energy-efficient technology for desalination of brackish water. This is because CapDI removes the salt ions from the water, while the other technologies do the reverse: they extract water from the salt solution; see Figure 3.

Fource will be equipped with CapDI technology, developed by the Dutch Company Voltea BV 2,3. Their award-winning desalination technology desalinates brackish water at a lower economic and environmental cost than any other technology. Typically, it recovers between 80% and 90% of the water it treats, compared to 50-70% for reverse osmosis. This is good for the environment and can save costs, both in overall water inta-ke and in brine water discharge.

Voltea’s CapDI systems are based on a single technology platform which provides variable salt removal and is scalable across water volumes ranging from a few millilitres per minute to thousands of cubic meters per hour. This flexibility means that CapDI can be used in a wide array of applications. Voltea’s technology saves electricity by reusing the energy stored in the electrodes during desalination, a process similar to rechar-ging a battery. Unlike competing desalination technologies, CapDI does not re-quire any chemicals such as biocides or anti-scalants.

The first prototype of our device, Fource #1, will be assembled by Voltea. It consists of proven technology, and its capacity can be specified easily, due to its flexible scalability. Voltea has marketed 25 industrial systems during the last two years, and has 33 patent families on the technology.

Figure 3: Energy, required for three desalinization techniques; CapDI being by far the most energy efficient (far right).

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B2B: during our startup, Fource and Voltea will commence cooperating on the basis of an exclusive license agreement.

OPPORTUNITY / MARKET PROBLEM, ADDRESSED WITH FOURCEAbout 17% of the world’s agricultural lands are under irrigation, but irrigated agriculture contributes well over 30% of the world’s agricultu-ral production. In irrigated agriculture, salinity is one of the most severe environmental factors limiting the productivity of agricultural crops. Most crops are sensitive to salts in the soil. Salinization of agricultural lands is particularly widespread in arid and semi-arid environments where crop production requires irrigation. At least 20% of all irrigated lands are salt-affected, with some estimates being as high as 50%. Worldwide, the damage caused by salinity to agriculture is estimated to be about €15 billion a year, and is expected to increase as soils are further affected. Irrigation is not the only cause of salinization: in coastal areas, the risk of seawater incursion can lead to tidal intrusion of saline water into rivers and aquifers.

Salinization of irrigated lands is of major concern for global food pro-duction, on all continents. The coincidence of irrigation and salinization threatens the sustainability of high agricultural productivity. In 2002, the total soil area degraded by human-induced salinization is estimated to be 76.3 million ha4.

In coastal regions of The Netherlands, salinization is considered a se-rious problem in agriculture, and has been on the agenda for long. The sense of urgency has been triggered by climate change. The service level of irrigation water that regional water managers should provide is subject to debate, including water pricing. Over the years, this level is increasingly difficult to provide, due to various challenges. Ongoing sub-sidence of peaty soils has induced increased seepage of saline ground-water to the root zone of crops. Furthermore, sea water enters surface waters through coastal sluices, where it ‘pollutes’ fresh irrigation waters.

The service level of irrigation water that Dutch water managers have maintained for many decades has created customary law which is diffi-cult to break. As a result, the farmers expect irrigation water of very low salinity, at all times. Due to climate change, this quality can no longer be guaranteed. When surface water is scarce, supply may be interrupted or the salinity of the water may get intolerable, as a result of which crop yields are seriously challenged. Farmers, living in salinity-prone regions

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are well aware of the negative impact of brackish irrigation water on their yield / income.

The financial impact (i.e. loss of income) of water scarcity and/or salinity may be profound, because the harvests at contemporary farms generate - on average - substantial income; see Table 1.

Over the years, the salt tolerance of crops with regard to brackish/saline irrigation water has been thoroughly investigated, in many regions/coun-tries, under vastly different conditions and in close co-operation with many farmers. The sensitivity-range of key crop types, grown in tempe-rate climatic zones is displayed in Table 2 (Stuyt et al., 20135,6)

Harvest Crop Type(€/hectare)

grass 2 000.-beets 3 000.-flower bulbs 20 000.-vegetables 20 000.-fruit nurseries 60 000.-orchards 100 000.-

Crop TypeSalt Tolerance Class (chloride; mg/l)

intolerant very low low intermediate moderately tolerant tolerant

grass 2400corn 600potatoes 600beets 2400cereals 1200tomatoes, peppers 75orchards 600flower bulbs 600nurseries 150Fruit nurseries 300

Left Table 1. Selling price of harvested agricultural crops (€)

Below Table 2: Salt tolerance class of common agricultural crops (after Stuyt et al., 2014)

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An indication of the vulnerability of Dutch farmers to salinization is a listing of the ‘salt damage’ to agri-cultural crops in the ‘Rijnland’ region Water Control Board; see Table 3. Data, obtained in a recent study show that even with low salinity of irrigation water, crop damage in Rijnland is €25M annually7. This figure is reached if the salinity of the fresh water ant the irrigation water entry point of Rijnland near the city of Gouda reaches its minimum level of 200 mg Cl- / l. On average, the input salini-ty is higher: a more realistic 500 mg Cl- / l causes a crop damage in the region of € 60 million.

Salt damage to agricultural crops, specified pol-der wise

(€ × 1000)

Boskoop 6,470

Bollenstreek 4,740

Sand Dune Area 2,000Haarlemmermeer Polder 1,528

Polder ‘De Noordplas’ and ‘Middelburg Tempel’ polder

2,358

Zuidelijke Veenpolders 3,148

All other polders 6,743

Entire region of the Water Board of Rijnland 25,000

Dutch water boards in coastal regions

Harvest value of all irrigated crops with current irrigation water salinities

Harvest value of all irrigated crops with reduced irrigati-on water salinities (50%)

Increase in har-vest value

AGV-Waternet 9 041 550.- 9 127 427.- 85 877.-Hollands Noorderkwartier 367 218 784.- 389 183 232.- 21 964 448.-Rijnland 51 711 368.- 53 118 308.- 1 406 940.-Zeeuwse Eilanden 57 468 320.- 65 957 620.- 8 489 300.-Zuidhollandse Eilanden 155 279 264.- 157 212 784.- 1 933 520.-Wetterskip Fryslan + wadden 89 125 048.- 93 484 960.- 4 359 912.-Schieland+Krimpenerwaard 10 585 296.- 10 596 339.- 11 043.-Zeeuws Vlaanderen 23 461 200.- 24 163 548.- 702 348.-Brabantse Delta 312 371 840.- 319 925 792.- 7 553 952.-Hunze en Aa's 104 091 776.- 104 093 848.- 2 072.-Noorderzijlvest 45 889 700.- 48 580 816.- 2 691 116.-Zuiderzeeland 471 360 608.- 480 998 272.- 9 637 664.-Totals 1 697 604 754.- 1 756 442 946.- 58 838 192.-

Left : Table 3: Salt damage to crops, simulated with DSS €ureyeopener for the Water Board of Rijnland, if the salinity of river water entering the region near the city of Gouda is 200 mg/Cl-. After entry, the chloride content of this water is getting more saline on its way to the exit point; the maximum salinity is 650 mg/Cl-; source: Stuyt et al (in press)8

Below Table 4: Effects of halving irrigati-on water salinity on the value of harve-sted crops in The Netherlands. Results of computer simulations, using recorded surface water salinities, cropping patters of 2010 and weather data of the dry year 1989. The overall value increase of harve-sted crops is €59M nationwide and varies locally from 1 to 14%, depending on crop type and local salinity (Stuyt et al., 2013)9.

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Using Fource, a farmer can halve the salinity of his irrigation water. To assess of the effect of such a 50% reduction of the salinity of irrigati-on water on the selling price of his harvest, a desk study was made for entire coastal region of The Netherlands. In the computer simulations, recorded surface water salinities, cropping patters of 2010 and weather data of the year 1989 (very dry summer) were used. The overall value increase of harvested crops is €59M nationwide, and varies locally from 1 to 14%, depending on crop type and local salinity; see Table 4.

The farmers know which maximum salinities of irrigation water can be tolerated at any stage of crop development. They will increasingly act as water managers, introducing tailor made water management at their locations. Many farmers have increased their irrigation efficiency, started growing more salt tolerant crops, introduced soil structure manage-ment and have installed of land drainage systems10 to remove brackish ground water. Yet, so far, they cannot influence the salinity of the irrigati-on water that is supplied at their front doors. For these farmers, control-led desalination of irrigation water would be a great help.

Moderate desalination of irrigation water (‘not more than necessary’) is unprecedented. The working range of Fource, expressed as chloride content in irrigation water, varies from 100 to 1000 mg/l. In practice, the salinity of the water could be lowered from 1000 to 400 mg/l, from 800 to 300, and so on. Hence, Fource, the innovative water quality trimmer with its proven CapDI technology, will be a very welcome device to substan-tially reduce salt damage to crops and the associated loss of income for the farmers, at competitive price.

The ROI (Return On Investment) for a farmer, owning three hectares of fruit orchards (annual harvest selling price € 180,000) with 5% crop damage due to enhanced irrigation water salinity would be two years. A farmer, growing vegetables or flower bulbs needs to cultivate nine hecta-res to reach a break-even point in the same period of time, cf. Table 1.

PRODUCT VALIDATION AND PRODUCTION The first prototype of Fource (‘Fource #1’) will be assembled by Voltea B.V., Wasbeekerlaan 24, 2171 AE Sassenheim11, The Netherlands. All es-sential components will be supplied by Voltea. For its operation, Fource #1 will be wired to accept wind-, solar- and conventional (230VAC) power.

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Fource #1 will be operated in a field testing pilot that will start in October 2014 in the Haarlemmermeer polder, near Schiphol Amsterdam Airport, using conventional power. After gathering the first experiences and fixing teething problems, wind- and solar energy will be implemented within six months. Solar power will be provided by Solarfield Company12, Gaagweg 24, 2636 AJ Schipluiden, The Netherlands. Solarfield panels include a solar tracker. So far, no selection was made for a wind power generator.

Included in the pilot is the development of an App for monitoring the system status of Fource and operating it from smartphone / tablet / pc. The CapDI technology of Voltea is self-adjusting. Once the required out-put salinity range has been set, Fource technically optimizes the desali-nation process.

In the first pilot, the water in- and outputs of Fource #1 will be determin-ed in consultation with the Voltea technical staff and the farmer. Several options are available to bring the desalinized water into the soil. The most self-evident one is the use of existing subsurface networks of drain pipes. Using a more sophisticated subsurface drip irrigation system, Fource output is applied directly to the root zone of the crops, without evaporation- and/or other losses; see Figure 4. In this configuration, the water may be supplied with fertilizer, creating durable, local, tailor made solutions, with the farmer acting as a water manager in CSA (=Climate Smart Agriculture

Figure 4: Subsurface irrigation using an innovative trickle system

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WHY FOURCE IS BETTERControlled reduction of the salinity of irrigation water, as provided by Fource, will be a great help for the farmer/water manager. Indeed, existing desalination techniques are a bridge too far, for two reasons:

Both objections do not apply to Fource. Using a CT4 unit, consisting of four electrode packs, the cost per m3 of is assessed to be €0.26 /m3, on average, see Table 5:

COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

Table 5: Cost assessment of a CapDi- unit with capacity CT4

Cost assessment capacity CT4Capacity / module 0,5 m3/h

Number of modules 4

Capacity / h 2 m3/h

Capaciteit / day 48 m3/day

cycles minutes/cycle

Service life of module 400000 5 2000000 min

33333 hours

1389 days

4 years

Purchase 17500

Desalinated water volume 66667 m3

cost € 0,26 /m3

- over delivery / cost: for his crops, a farmer does not need fresh drinking water13: he pays too much for an energy intensive and expensive water processing technique he doesn’t need. Conven- tional techniques are known to be too costly, impeding their use;

- lack of flexibility: the farmer cannot trim the salinity of his output water, while higher salinities can be tolerated with the progressi on of the growing season.

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The cost as specified above is associated with the rate of salinity reduc-tion. Smaller reduction rates will result in lower costs, and vice versa. The farmer can save costs, exploiting the inherent operational flexibility of his device. After obtaining operational experience as a water mana-ger, Fource has developed into his money saving, flexible Fresh Water Source, providing a personal, tailor-made solution.

As an alternative to Fource, farmers can take targeted measures to enhance the availability of fresh irrigation water. Storage of rain- and fresh surface waters in the soil profiles of his farm is an option, as long as supply lasts, that is, during a wet winter season in temperate climatic zones14. In a recent desk study, seven measures have been proposed; see Figure 5.

Figure 5: Seven ways of water conservation in the upper soil profile: 1) D2B: evacuation of saline groundwater through a series of deep pipe drains; 2) RD/KAD: controlled drainage and automated, climate adaptive drainage; 3) KRI: subsurface irrigation through shallow horizontal pipe drains; 4) FM: injection, and subsequent recuperation of fresh water in the soil, through deep horizontal pipe drains; 5) VASR: injection, and subsequent recuperation of fresh water in the soil, through vertically oriented filter pipes; 6) WCST: surface water conservation in ditches, through raising of existing weirs; 7) WCSB: surface water conservation in ditches, through raising of ditch bottoms.

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The success of these measures depends upon local soil properties and fresh water availability. On a limited scale, field experiments are made in The Netherlands to investigate the water yield potential of two of these measures. No results are available so far. The success of these measu-res is heavily dependent upon water movement in shallow soil layers, hence yield and water quality are uncertain. Unlike Fource, these field experiments are do not provide a reliable clue on the water yield poten-tial, nor the cost/m3 desalinated water. Not so with Fource, which can process all available, moderately saline surface-, and shallow ground water resources, 24/7. This reliability of Fource is important for a farmer: he invests in security concerning his business/income.

In another, recent pilot in a Dutch coastal region, occasional rain is sto-red in a purposely made surface water reservoir. So far, this technique appears too costly: the reservoir causes loss of land for crop growth, moreover, this technology needs expensive instrumentation for adequate functioning.

OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGEOur competitive advantage is attributed to the following facts:

- future legislation will prompt water reuse, which is exactly what Fource does;- our proven technology is unused for the intended application, until date;- our technology has a low energy consumption;- our technology is continuously being improved (more efficient; cheaper);- Fource accepts many different water sources, including local waste streams;- the water recovery rate of Fource is high;- Fource needs no chemicals to function;

- Fource is simple in operation and maintenance.

Intentionally, Fource’s beachhead market is The Netherlands. The deve-loper of the technology, Voltea, has his home base and assembly loca-tion near the Dutch city of Leyden, within the borders of the ‘Rijnland’ District Water Management Authority which is situated at the North Sea coast. The pilot with Fource #1 will be implemented in the salinity prone Haarlemmermeer polder, near Amsterdam international airport Schiphol.The water managers of Rijnland have a difficult task in supplying fresh irrigation water. This is the more so because the Rijnland District suffers

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from strong seepage of saline groundwater, at many locations. They welcome a pilot with Fource because they believe that implementation of the device at strategic locations (“Let’s join Fources!”) is likely to add a step toward optimization of fresh water distribution in times of scarci-ty. The responsibility for fresh irrigation water in times of scarcity would be divided between the supplier and the farmers. The supplier specifies location specific service levels, in terms of water volume and maximum salinity. Farmers living in ‘saline surroundings’ take the final step towards tolerable salinity levels themselves, with Fource. This way of doing can lead to a show-case of an innovative, adaptive, more efficient and cost effective water supply policy.

The development of such an improved water supply protocol can be supported by an existing Dutch Decision Support System: €ureyeope-ner 15,16. This DSS is very useful to interactively explore options for the regional distribution of fresh water with local stakeholders, in dialog. All assessments are made in terms of money. Once Fource is included in the €ureyeopener model as an option for a farmer at a specific location, the DSS will unveil if that is a good idea. Thus, €ureyeopener validates the merit of Fource at any location, with its specific salinity load, current (or alternative) cropping pattern, given other valid fresh water supply options. Recent experience shows that €ureyeopener dialogs are very much appreciated by the involved stakeholders, and helps to generate wide support as experiences are shared together, on the basis of widely accepted, sophisticated models. This is an additional service, associa-ted with the introduction of Fource.

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POTENTIAL MARKET FOR FOURCEAs substantiated in paragraph 6, our beachhead market is The Nether-lands. As soon as Fource #1 is in full swing we intend to start pilots at other Dutch locations, including higher grounds where summer droughts are common and local waste streams can be ‘Fourced’ to irrigation water of adequate quality. This region is waiting for new innovations, and Fource is a promising candidate.

The Netherlands is known as a water rich country. Yet, with the arrival of climate change, even in this country the availability of irrigation water at any location is no longer self-evident. The service level has become dependent upon time and location. Therefore, and for other reasons explained in the previous paragraph, The Netherlands is the #1 place for our beachhead market.

Having said this, we know that scarcity of fresh irrigation water is incre-asing in European countries, located south of The Netherlands. Hence, the next advance of Fource is the European market, starting in countries near The Netherlands: Belgium, Germany, France. This strategy allows for building and expanding a sales/service network.

One step further is expansion to semi-arid areas in the world where salinity problems are even more substantial; mainly developing coun-tries. This would be a very large market indeed, yet individual farmers are unlikely to be in the position to purchase Fource. The executive team will use its networks and projects in these areas as a launch pad to have Fources installed here, seeking financial support from the World Bank, FAO and comparable institutions.

MARKET

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CUSTOMERS FOR FOURCECurrently, the only widespread application of desalination in agriculture in temperate climatic zones is reverse osmosis. This energy intensive technology is common in greenhouse agriculture, which is a market on its own, with capital-intensive cultivation of crops where very high fresh water standards are imperative and higher desalination cost are afforda-ble. Voltea, who develops and sells the CapDI deionization installations, markets this technology in industrial applications. So far, they have never considered application this technology in agriculture because this poten-tial market is unknown to them. Fource is the first serious B2B proposal to open this new market where the fresh water standards are considera-bly lower.

So, why would a farmer consider to purchase Fource? By law, Dutch farmers pay their Water Control Board an annual fee for the supply of ir-rigation water. For many of them, the salinity of this water is acceptable, yet an increasing number of farmers has to deal with rising salinity. In The Netherlands, this year, for the first time, an agreement was reached between a group of farmers and their Water Control Board for irrigation water supply. The first case of water pricing, and an indication of a new trend which is fuelled by climate change. The awareness that fresh water can no longer be obtained ‘for free’ is growing, and the market for priva-te desalination is emerging. Fource can play an important role in optimi-zing the distribution of scarce fresh water, but its potential in economic terms - where and when is it a better deal than paying an annual fee to the Water Control Board - will have to be investigated, both in the pilot with Fource #1 and an analysis with the agri-economic DSS €ureyeope-ner.

EXAMPLE OF POTENTIAL MARKET (NL)In salinity prone areas in The Netherlands there are hunderds of potential Fource clients, for instance in the agricultural lands in the Dutch province of Noord Holland where flower bulbs are being cultivated. They cover an acreage of 12,265 ha; see Figure 6. 70% of the farmer community is concen-trated in the Northwest of the province (Anna Paulowna Polder, Polder ‘Het Koegras en de Zijpe’ and the ‘Hazepolder’); the remaining 30% is widely scattered over a large area, spreading in SE direction.

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It is obvious that the supply of fresh irrigation water to the farmers in the Nortwest is by far the most efficient. Elsewhere, the supply efficiency to farmers may be increased significantly if the salinity of the irrigation water is no longer ‘automatically’ suited to satisfy the most demanding crop (flower bulbs), because this causes over delivery to many adjacent agricultural lands with more salt tolerant crops than flower bulbs.

An analysis, to be made with DSS €ureyeopener (see previous para-graph) will reveal which supply network and -operation, combined with Fources at strategic locations may lead to cost reductions for farmers and the Water Control Board (of ‘Hollands Noorderkwartier’) as a whole.

Figure 6: Areas with flower bulb cultivations in the Dutch province of Noord Holland

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There is a lot to be gained, Fource can play a crucial role in this process, but further analyses are essential to arrive at durable, tailor made soluti-ons and the associated numbers of Fources sold.

Marketing strategyThe pilot with prototype Fource #1 will be set up as a showcase for potential buyers, water managers and other stakeholders. We will focus our communication primarily on early adopters: the potential buyers who are willing to validate the product. We will show that the technology works, and that the input and discharge of water can be seamlessly fit to the farmers’ requirements. The farmer who operates Fource #1 at his location will get financial compensation for receiving guests: other farmers, policy makers of authorities that are involved in regional water management, etc. We will investigate how they deal with the salinity pro-blem, hear about past experiences with it, how much money the salinity has cost him so far, if he has a budget available to solve it, if the price is right, who else we should talk to (fellow farmers, water authorities, farmers’ unions etc.).

The farmer and executive team will communicate the significance and the development of the pilot on the web at www.fource-now.com. Besi-des, we will promote coverage in local and national media.

Simultaneously with the pilot, CEO Dr. L.C.P.M. Stuyt and member of the Advisory Board, Prof. Dr. A. van der Wal, who are employed at Wage-ningen University and Research Centre (The Netherlands), will introduce Fource in their international scientific networks, together with the Dr. P.J.T. van Bakel, who is an influential scientist on agrohydrology.

First salesThe first sales are expected very soon. If all goes well with the pilot, the first generation of Fources will be marketed by mid-2015.

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MAKING MONEYDurable, future development of fresh water supply to agriculture is high on the agenda of Dutch water managers and stakeholders. The major question is: what service level, in terms of salinity, should the water manager guarantee to the end user, under all circumstances? In a recent study, a series of cost/benefit analyses has been made of large scale measures, proposed to enhance the fresh water availability for agricultu-re in the Dutch South-western Delta17. Lowering polder salinity may be achieved by increasing the flushing intensity of canals. While durable nor affordable, this measure is common practice in many regions. This study clearly revealed that measures to lower the salinity of surface waters for larger regions like polders are usually unaffordable for farmers if they would be charged for this. Mostly, such measures are valid options only if they decide to grow more capital intensive crops.

The incentive of a farmer to purchase Fource is strongly related with his situation. If he experiences high salinities regularly, without the prospect of improvement, Fource will help him out. He invests in income security. His decision to desalinate personally largely depends on the service level that his supplier provides, now and in the future, and at what cost. In areas where the supplier of irrigation water cannot guarantee tolerable salinities at all times, Fource will help him through such periods. Hence, in salinity prone areas Fource has the potential to emerge as an essential device for a farmer, like his tractor, harvesting machine, sprinkling instal-lation and other tools.

Reversely, widespread introduction of Fource will favourably impact the water supply strategy in a polder or region. If this happens, the water supply authority has room to focus his supply schemes largely on main-taining surface water levels and other water quality obligations. If, then, salinities run too high (within agreed limits) this would be no problem, because the farmers will take care of that. In such an innovative future

BUSINESS MODEL /ROAD TO MARKET

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water supply scheme, responsibilities are spread in a durable manner, and the use of saline/brackish water as a resource for agriculture will be strongly encouraged: a good example of adaptation.

EXPECTED LEVEL OF INCOME 2016Financials is a crucial component of the launching of Fource. A provisi-onal assessment has been made of the expected level of income; the underlying financials are summarized in a provisional scheme depicted in Figure 7.

This summary reflects our expectations at this time. The selling price is based upon cost of manufacture, not on the assumed favourable impact on a farmers’ harvest. In 2016, the resulting expected level of income is € 125,000 and is assumed to grow rapidly thereafter.

We assess the assembly cost of the prototype Fource #1 to be € 17,500.As can be read from Figure 7, the number of units to be sold would be 50 when the year 2016 runs out. This figure is based upon the expected assembly capacity in the first full year of the company. The success of Fource largely depends upon the development of the pilot study with

Figure 7: Financials of Fource, in a prospect of 2016

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Fource #1 in the Haarlemmermeer polder. All components of the finan-cials in Figure 6 are solid; the number of buyers is the most uncertain factor. If our pilot is under way and we win the prize, thorough market research is on top of our list, to come to a sound business model for Fource.

The future price of Fource depends on its desalination capacity, the kind of power supply and how much the market is prepared to pay. On this very important issue, we will go into debate with the frontrunners that we will meet during the pilot with Fource #1. Their feedback will be essential for pricing. We will seek financial support from (local) governments and NGO’s for a durable device like Fource, especially for configurations that will be run on solar-, or wind power.

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LEGAL ENTITYOur legal entity will be a private company in The Netherlands (Dutch: Besloten Vennootschap (‘BV’).

ESTABLISHMENT OF OUR PRIVATE COMPANY (BV)In October 2014, if we win and set up our pilot with Fource #1 in the Haarlemmermeer Polder.

EXECUTIVE TEAMIn 2016, the Fource Org Chart will be as follows:

CURRENT/FUTUREBUSINESS POSITION

Figure 8: Fource’s executive team and advisory board

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Dr Lodewijk Stuyt is a staff member of Alterra, the research institute of the Environmental Science Group (ESG) of Wageningen University and research Centre18. He has encouraged the introduction of durable, controlled land drainage systems in The Netherlands and has developed the European design criteria for drainage filters. During the past period, Dr. Stuyt contributed to the development of durable fresh water use in irrigated agriculture in salinity prone lower grounds.

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REFERENCES 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitive_deionization#cite_note-Porada2013-1

2: http://www.eip-water.eu/Water-innovations-in-the-Netherlands.pdf

3: http://www.voltea.com

4: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/0-306-48155-3_1#page-1: M.G. Pitman and A. Läuchli, 2002. Global impact of salinity and agricultural ecosystems. In: A. Läuchli and U. Lüttge (eds.), Salinity: Environment - Plants - Molecules , 3–20. Kluwer Academic Publishers. The Netherlands.

5: http://edepot.wur.nl/173791: Bakel, P.J.T. van en L.C.P.M. Stuyt, 2011. Actualisering van de kennis van de zouttolerantie van landbouwgewassen, op basis van literatuuron-derzoek, expertkennis en praktische ervaringen. Wageningen, Alterra, Alterra-rapport 2201.

6: http://edepot.wur.nl/265212: L.C.P.M. Stuyt, P.J.T. van Bakel, J. Delsman, H.T.L. Massop, R.A.L. Kselik, M.P.C.P. Paulissen, G.H.P. Oude Essink, M. Hoogvliet en P.N.M. Schipper. Zoetwa-tervoorziening in het Hoogheemraadschap Rijnland verduidelijkt met behulp van €ureyeopener 1.0. 2013, Alterra, Alterra-rapport 2439

7: Lodewijk Stuyt, Joost Delsman, Jan van Bakel, Gu Oude Essink, Rob Kselik, Bart Snellen, Harry Massop and Peter Schipper. A simple Decision Support System for instant evaluation of measures to manage fresh water scarcity in agriculture: the €ureyeopener (in press).

8: Lodewijk Stuyt, Joost Delsman, Jan van Bakel, Gu Oude Essink, Rob Kselik, Bart Snellen, Harry Massop and Peter Schipper. A simple Decision Support System for instant evaluation of measures to manage fresh water scarcity in agriculture: the €ureyeopener (in press).9: L.C.P.M. Stuyt, C. Schuiling, P.J.T. van Bakel, H.T.L. Massop, G.H.P. Oude Essink, M. Faneca Sanchez, J. Velstra, N.B.P. Polman en A.C. de Vos. 2014. Mogelijke effecten van actualisatie van zoutschadefuncties van grondgebonden, beregende landbouwgewas-sen. KvK rapportnummer 116/2014.

10: http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/a0258e/a0258e.pdf: Stuyt, L.C.P.M., W. Dierickx and J. Martínez Beltrán, 2005. Materials for subsurface land drainage systems. FAO Irrigation And Drainage Paper 60, Rev. 1, FAO, Rome.

11: www.voltea.com

12: www.solarfield.nl

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13: Greenhouse cultivations of peppers, tomatoes etc. on substrate media are an excep-tion in that they require near drinking water quality. This category of agricultural producti-on is not considered here.

14: http://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/hydrotheek/2055742: Methode voor het bepalen van de potentie voor het toepassen van lokale zoetwateroplossingen : Fresh Water Options Optimizer - fase 1. Rapport KVK 118/2014 en STOWA 2014-16.

15: http://edepot.wur.nl/265212: L.C.P.M. Stuyt, P.J.T. van Bakel, J. Delsman, H.T.L. Massop, R.A.L. Kselik, M.P.C.P. Paulissen, G.H.P. Oude Essink, M. Hoogvliet en P.N.M. Schipper. Zoetwa-tervoorziening in het Hoogheemraadschap Rijnland verduidelijkt met behulp van €ureyeopener 1.0. 2013, Alterra, Alterra-rapport 2439

16: Lodewijk Stuyt, Joost Delsman, Jan van Bakel, Gu Oude Essink, Rob Kselik, Bart Snellen, Harry Massop and Peter Schipper. A simple Decision Support System for instant evaluation of measures to manage fresh water scarcity in agriculture: the €ureyeopener (in press).

17: http://edepot.wur.nl/307750: P.N.M. Schipper, G.M.C.M. Janssen, N.B.P. Polman, V.G.M. Linderhof, P.J.T. van Bakel, H.T.L. Massop, R.A.L. Kselik1, G.H.P. Oude Essink en L.C.P.M. Stuyt. €ureyeopener 2.1: Zoetwatervoorziening Zuidwestelijke Delta en Rijn-mond-Drechtsteden. Alterra Rapport 2510, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

18: http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Research-Institutes/alterra/About-Alterra/Teams-Alterra/Integrated-water-and-catchment-management.htm