Chapter 10
Economics of Multi-use and Co-location
Hauke L. Kite-Powell
Abstract Under the right circumstances, multi-use of a marine site through
co-location of complementary activities can result in more efficient use of ocean
space. We explore the economic dimension of multi-use and co-location, using the
general example of an aquaculture operation co-located within an ocean wind farm.
Co-locating aquaculture operations and wind farms can produce both public and
private benefits (cost savings). The public benefits arise from the fact that an
aquaculture operation co-located within the boundaries of a wind farm does not
negatively affect the ecosystem services derived from the ocean area it would
otherwise have occupied. The private benefits are cost savings that arise from
shared permitting, infrastructure, and logistics efforts and systems. The economic
value associated with these benefits depends on the scale, location, and nature of the
co-located ventures and the natural resources they affect. For locations in open
ocean and relatively low-value coastal waters that are candidates for wind farm or
aquaculture sites in most countries, the public benefit is likely to be on the order of
500−3,000/year per hectare of area occupied by the aquaculture operation, and the
private benefits are likely to be less than $50–100/ton of aquaculture operation
output.
10.1 Introduction
Under the right circumstances, multi-use of a marine site through co-location of
complementary activities can result in more efficient use of ocean space. In this
chapter, we explore the economic dimension of multi-use and co-location, using the
general example of an aquaculture operation co-located within an ocean wind farm.
We begin with a review of ocean space as a potentially scarce resource that can
be an input to a range of productive economic and ecological processes. In some
H.L. Kite-Powell (&)
Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
MS 41, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
e-mail: hauke@whoi.edu
© The Author(s) 2017
B.H. Buck and R. Langan (eds.), Aquaculture Perspective of Multi-Use Sites
in the Open Ocean, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-51159-7_10
233
Economics of Multi-use and Co-location
Hauke L. Kite-Powell
Abstract Under the right circumstances, multi-use of a marine site through
co-location of complementary activities can result in more efficient use of ocean
space. We explore the economic dimension of multi-use and co-location, using the
general example of an aquaculture operation co-located within an ocean wind farm.
Co-locating aquaculture operations and wind farms can produce both public and
private benefits (cost savings). The public benefits arise from the fact that an
aquaculture operation co-located within the boundaries of a wind farm does not
negatively affect the ecosystem services derived from the ocean area it would
otherwise have occupied. The private benefits are cost savings that arise from
shared permitting, infrastructure, and logistics efforts and systems. The economic
value associated with these benefits depends on the scale, location, and nature of the
co-located ventures and the natural resources they affect. For locations in open
ocean and relatively low-value coastal waters that are candidates for wind farm or
aquaculture sites in most countries, the public benefit is likely to be on the order of
500−3,000/year per hectare of area occupied by the aquaculture operation, and the
private benefits are likely to be less than $50–100/ton of aquaculture operation
output.
10.1 Introduction
Under the right circumstances, multi-use of a marine site through co-location of
complementary activities can result in more efficient use of ocean space. In this
chapter, we explore the economic dimension of multi-use and co-location, using the
general example of an aquaculture operation co-located within an ocean wind farm.
We begin with a review of ocean space as a potentially scarce resource that can
be an input to a range of productive economic and ecological processes. In some
H.L. Kite-Powell (&)
Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
MS 41, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
e-mail: hauke@whoi.edu
© The Author(s) 2017
B.H. Buck and R. Langan (eds.), Aquaculture Perspective of Multi-Use Sites
in the Open Ocean, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-51159-7_10
233