Pricing the algae bag

On our Gulf algae civilization, algae food processors will take advantage of the algae bag sooner, and with higher prices. So we have this ocean industry, based in intelligent plastic bags and algae. The variety of strains, foodstuffs, and biofuels is where the GDP comes from, a robust product selection.

I like the bags having a ten year depreciation, and we get the cost down for fuel farmers to below $75,000 per acre. The food guys can spend $300,000, but they have more complicated systems, use fertilizers, have more active fluid flows, and are closer to shore.

Things get simple and huge when the industry moves out 15 miles. There economies of scale get profits with 15,000 gallons per acre per year. But little or no fertilizer, mostly passive flow. The fuel farmer gains from massive scales. But in the ideal case, his bags are simple, flow driven by wave action, passive microbe filtering. These bags are rolled off the farmers trawler. Two or three hands must be on site to manage a 40 acres farm.
Fuel farmers selling price, in todays environment, is about $1.50, if you include liability penalties in fossil fuel. If he grosses $20,000/acre/year, then he is profitable. His 40 acre farm is generating $800,000, enough to hire two full time hands and cover the ten year bag depreciation. Consider the ocean acreage, right now, is free in the gulf. The gulf has shallow shores and the best sun in North America.

The fuel farmer gains from the scale of services and traffic from the algae product variety. Example, the used bag market: The bag industry is huge, and includes refurbished bags, released food bags; so these farmers will have the tools to generate any variety of algae fuel. Boom times for Florida, Louisiana, Texas and the rest.