Our proprietary non-thermal plasma technology generates water-soluble nitrates from air. Oxygen and Nitrogen is captured and ionized into Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species (RONS). Nitrates (NO3) are then bubbled into water producing Nitrogen Enriched Water or NEWfertilizer™. NTP uses a modified gliding arc technology to generate optimal nitrate production in our final product.
Farmers are faced with the annual task of purchasing fertilizer for their farms. Each year the market changes, prices are becoming more volatile and availability is starting to be a concern. NTP is moving that ongoing operating expense (OpEx) to a fixed capital expense (CapEx) similar to the solar industry. Farmers pay for a machine (capital expense) and they fix their monthly costs by amortizing the equipment over a period of time (in our case 15–20 years).
The monthly payment is fixed regardless of the amount of fertilizer they produce. The more fertilizer, the lower the cost per pound. There is a small annual fee to keep the machine operational and a small monthly electrical cost that can also be amortized through a renewable energy project. Farmers no longer need to worry about price volatility or availability. They know their costs and are making fertilizer onsite.
There has been more research in plasma technology in the last 5 years as it applies to agriculture. Scientists are interested in the different ways to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere using plasma technologies. But not all technologies are the same and research continues, however there are a few papers below that add some context to the use of plasma in growing crops. The key is to use a technology that can be reliable and reproducible, which is what NTP has achieved after a decade of research.
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Advisory Board
Julia Inestroza grew up in the fresh produce industry on her family’s citrus, avocado, and olive ranch in central California. After college, she worked in several positions that allowed her to experience and learn the entire fresh food supply chain, from seed to fork. Before returning to her on-the-ground farming roots, she also worked as the Marketing director for a large fresh produce grower, importer/exporter, where she was able to focus on marketing and product/packaging innovation to increase sales and consumption.
Since returning to the ranch, Julia has increased acreage, transitioned some blocks to organic production, and implemented new processes and techniques to remain competitive. In addition to working on her own ranch she has been heavily involved with various citrus industry, agriculture, and community organizations. She currently serves as a member of the USDA Citrus Disease Subcommittee and is also on several water-related committees and boards. Julia also currently serves on the board of directors of Fruit Growers Supply, Sunkist Growers Inc, and California Citrus Mutual.
Julia has a BA in Econ from U.C. Riverside and an MBA with a specialization in technology and operations management from Cal Poly Pomona. She is also a graduate of the California Ag Leadership Program (Class 34) and holds a certification as a Governance Fellow from the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Advisory Board
David Holden has over 45 years of experience working as a Pest Control Advisor and Agricultural Production Consultant who has worked with many crops and has specialty experience working with California avocados, berries, citrus, vegetables, and wine grapes. David is an experienced public speaker, has served on several ag related boards, worked with numerous commissions, and has traveled throughout the country and abroad to present his research.
Holden Research and Consulting (HRC) is owned and operated by David Holden operating in Ventura County, California. HRC conducts many field research projects every year for a variety of agricultural manufacturers in the areas of pest and nutrient management both in the traditional and organic farming areas and has completed over 2000 of these projects to date. In the past ten years, HRC has specialized in research working with biopesticides, biofertilizers, and biostimulants. HRC has also worked with the California Avocado Commission, California Celery Commission, California Pepper Commission, and the University of California.
Advisory Board
Minos Athanassiadis is a Vice President at iFoodDS. He is part of the market leading team which provides SaaS food safety and traceability tools to grower-shippers globally, as well as quality assurance and management tools to top grocery retailers in the US and Australia.
Minos has deep expertise in both the agriculture and technology industries. He has held a series of senior positions with production agriculture companies including Dole Fresh Vegetables and Underwood Ranches. As Managing Director of the advisory firm Fresh Link Group, he led projects for a broad spectrum of clients including Walmart, John Deere, and numerous privately held companies. Minos also serves on the board of AG RX, a leading independent supplier of traditional and organic crop protection and nutrient products.
He is a graduate of the University of California at Davis and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Advisory Board
Chris Berkner is the Founder and CEO of Berkner Group, a leading executive and technical search firm for innovative, high-growth companies in Climate Tech and AgTech.
Chris was formerly Co-founder and Managing Director of One Earth Capital, an early-stage AgTech fund that invested tens of millions of dollars in various AgTech startups (including Marrone Bio, which went public on NASDAQ in 2014). From 2009 to 2012 he was CEO of PureSense, a 50-person AgTech hardware and software company that helped hundreds of large farms save billions of gallons of water while participating in demand response programs with PG&E and SoCal Edison. During his tenure, the company nurtured and formed relationships with a range of agricultural distribution partners including Wilbur Ellis, Helena Chemical, and local irrigation suppliers.
In his more distant past, Chris was VP of Software Engineering at an internet startup, did research on solar nanotechnology at Stanford, and taught karate to kids and adults. In his spare time, Chris enjoys hiking, yoga and playing music.
CEO
John Ireland has held positions as CEO, CFO, COO and Director of Business Development in both private and public corporations in several verticals.
Mr. Ireland currently owns a hydroponics farm in Maryland and along with his own consulting practice, is part of a small consulting group focused on helping colleges and universities with their sustainability and resiliency initiatives.
As part of his consulting practice, Mr. Ireland has worked in many industries assisting companies to prosper. He has been engaged by diverse companies including: a solar thermal company, a privately held software company, an electronics company, an upstream energy transaction exchange, a healthcare leasing company, a medical imaging company, a transaction based marketing company, and a tree seed oil company.
Mr. Ireland has been part of the Clean Tech Open accelerator as a lead mentor for 9 years and was awarded mentor of the year in 2019. He was also the treasure of the MIT Enterprise Forum of CT for 10 years.
One of Mr. Ireland’s notable accomplishments was his tenure as the CFO and COO for Sightlines, a facility benchmarking firm that grew from less than $1 million in revenue to over $7.5 million and was eventually sold for 13x EBITDA.
Mr. Ireland raised startup capital for and was the Founder and CEO of Downstream Energy Corporation. Downstream developed a SaaS solution that provided an alternative to the existing manual business processes and proprietary technologies available to support communication between suppliers and marketers of refined petroleum products.
Mr. Ireland spent eight years at Tosco Corporation in Business Development and Strategic Planning. He was instrumental in the growth of Tosco through mergers and acquisitions from a single refinery to the largest independent oil refiner and marketer in the United States whose assets included 7 refiners and over 5000 retail assets.
Mr. Ireland graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s degree in biochemical engineering. He also holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Mr. Ireland sits on several Boards as both a member and an advisor. He was elected to the Board of Education for his local town and was a lacrosse coach for over 12 years.
