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
