On Wednesday May 15th, after the BlueTech Forum, delegates have the opportunity to attend an informational field trip to Wetsus, the centre of excellence for sustainable water technology. Through Wetsus, more than 90 companies work together with 16 academic institutes from 8 European countries to develop cutting-edge, new water technology.
The first stop on the trip will provide you with more information on “Blue Energy”, electricity production resulting from the mixture of salt and fresh water. A demonstration scale model is currently under construction on the Afsluitdijk, a 32 kilometer dike that separates the fresh water supply of the IJsselmeer from the North Sea. This “Blue Energy” technology originated in the Wetsus laboratory, and has the potential to be a future source of clean energy.
The second stop will be the Wetsus Laboratories, located on the Water Campus in Leeuwarden. Here, lunch will be provided while Johannes Boonstra, executive director of Wetsus, presents on the Wetsus Laboratories. He will provide an overview of the Wetsus model for demand driven innovation and the role of Wetsus in the Water Campus in Leeuwarden.
After lunch, you will take a tour of the Wetsus laboratories, where you can view individuals working on a large number of new water technologies. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to hear from three Ph.D. students who will present individual research and work performed in the lab.
After the visit to Wetsus, you will return to Amsterdam through the Dutch “polders”, low-lying tracts of land located below sea level that were reclaimed from the sea through Dutch dike systems.
