Many researchers have said that experimental devices that produce only
milliwatts of power have no practical use. That is true, because these
devices are not reliable. Power is not constant, and it cannot be
controlled. If it could be controlled, and if the device could be
miniaturized, it would have enormous economic value, and many
practical applications. So, when you talk to venture capitalists, do not
sell yourself short. You should not think that the only
commercially valuable form of cold fusion will be in the kilowatt levels.

Frankly, I wish the people at Brillouin and even Mizuno would grasp this
fact. There is no need to scale up at first. What we need is control.
Scaling down to microwatt levels might actually bring in a lot more money
at first. Billions of dollars!

Frank Gordon has said that the present LEC is 9 orders away from producing
1 kW, which he called a "practical" level of electricity. That's a lotta
orders! He thinks they can close that gap by a number of methods that he
discussed in the presentation. However, I quibble with the idea that 1 kW
is the lowest practical level. I think it is much lower. I wrote to him as
follows --


A hearing aid battery produces the most expensive electricity

Frank,

You mentioned that you need to increase power by 9 orders of magnitude to
reach a "practical" level of 1 kW. That's not strictly true. Actually, far
lower power levels are not only practical, they are extremely valuable. The
most expensive electricity a person can buy is produced by a hearing aid
battery. This is around 5 or 10 mW. They last about 5 days, so that's 1200
mWh, or 0.0012 kWh. You can buy that from the power company for $0.00017
(0.017 cents), whereas a battery costs $0.50, I think. That's 2,900 times
more expensive per watt-hour. That is quite a heck of a market.

A miniature LEC that produces 10 mW of electricity would sell like hotcakes
at a huge premium. If it lasts for 5 years -- which I think is possible --
that would be the equivalent of 365 batteries, costing $183. Granted, you
can get rechargeable hearing aid batteries for $10 each, but a LEC version
would be more convenient and would probably last longer than rechargeable
batteries. I think you could get at least $100 for it.

There is a similar market for wrist watch batteries. They consume 10
microwatts. Your present LEC can almost reach that.

There is a gigantic market for cell phone batteries. Cell phones consume 3
W at peak. A thermoelectric chip with a heat-producing cold fusion reaction
would make the cell too hot to keep in your pocket. A LEC might be ideal.

A cardiac pacemaker battery costs a fantastic sum of money. Power levels
are 10 to 50 microwatts. A LEC would be an ideal power source, because
replacing a pacemaker calls for surgery which is painful and can be
dangerous, so it is better to leave it in place indefinitely. Of course you
have to meet very high performance and safety standards, so it would take a
long time to develop this and have it approved, but it would be worth
millions. Over a million pacemakers are implanted per year. They cost
between $4,000 and $6,000 each. Much of the cost is probably for the
battery. I expect you are looking at a market worth $1 to $2 billion.

So, anyway, when you present the LEC to venture capitalists, you should not
say that 1 kW is the lowest "practical" level of power. 10 microwatts is a
practical power level. Not only practical, but per watt, is it is worth
thousands to millions of times more than power company electricity.

- Jed

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