Deltas 2014: Aqgri+ wins Climate Business Challenge award for water re use stations in Vietnam
Turning waste water into three valuable products: nutrient rich irrigation water, compost and fish. That is the business case pitched by Jelmer van Veen (second right) and Priska Prasetya (second left), that won the first prize in the International Climate Adaptation Business Challenge 2014.
The finals took place during the international conference Deltas in Times of Climate Change II in Rotterdam on 25 September.
The winners received a cash price of 25.000 euro.
Generating new business
The Climate Adaptation Business Challenge is an initiative of the Dutch research programme Knowledge for Climate and the European Union Climate-Knowledge innovation community.
Both initiators want to boost new climate business by stimulating the creation of new business ideas and translating knowledge into innovative products and services.
Lodewijk Stuyt pitching his stand alone water filter for farmers.
Seven pitches by finalists
Out of 78 submissions from 28 countries a jury selected 15 business ideas as winners of the first round. The selected teams were from Kenya, Bangladesh, United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.
These teams have competed in the Climate Adaptation Boot Camp for a place in the finals.
Seven finalists were selected and pitched their business plan at the conference in Rotterdam.
Water scarcity for coffee plantations
Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world but farmers in the country's high lands are running out of water, as Jelmer van Veen (Netherlands) and Priska Prasety (Indonesia) pitched to the jury. They want to build 15 to 20 Aqgri+ stations and match the farmer's demand for water and compost by re using waste water, rice straw and fish sludge.
"I did my research project on the feasibility of waste water reuse as climate adaptation measure for agriculture sector in Mekong Delta of Vietnam", said Jelmer van Veen. "It is one of the world’s most prone regions to climate change. There I identified so much potential for using existing water resource for irrigation water."
The biggest challenge for the business case is to overcome the issue of the inappropriate pricing for water that only covers the costs of the delivery service, excluding the costs as a scarce resource.
Three other finalists
The three other winners were:
● Resilience, Melanie Davis: tailored climate forecasts for the wind energy sector.
● SWAP, Marta Faneca Sànchez: a sensor that can be mounted on a cell phone for farmers and water managers to measure salinity of water.
● Salinity reducer, Lodewijk Stuyt: a low-cost standalone water filter to reduce salinity at the farm level.
Read more on this website
● Deltas 2014: Highlights of an inspiring river delta conference in pictures, 3 October 2014
● Deltas 2014: Launch of 12 building blocks for a sustainable delta approach, 2 October 2014
● Deltas 2014: Delta Alliance announces new membership agreements with Kenya and Taiwan, 2 October 2014
● Deltas 2014: Concept of floating cities grabs imagination at international congress on river deltas, 26 September 2014
● Deltas 2014: Early start climate adaptation in river deltas allows opting for cheaper natured-based solutions, 25 September 2014
● Deltas 2014: leading conference on coming to grip with complex coastal and river deltas, 19 September 2014
More information
Deltas in times of climate change II