SPCs Talk at Labour Party Environment Forum

Here is what I plan to say - but there is an hours journey to get there - it could all change!

Hello, my name is Phoebe Bright and I'm a member of Cork Environmental Forum, on the executive of Feasta (an Economics think tank), a Long Term Thinker, a Techie and a horse addict. I'm going to speak very briefly, only the role of SPCs, my experience of sitting on one of the Cork County SPCs and a couple of suggestions for how we can make them more effective.


Each County and City Council has a number Strategic Policy Committees made up roughly equal numbers of councillors and external representatives from organisations representing the environment, economic and social pillars. The expectation for SPCs was that they could provide a different perspective during policy development. For example, the policy planning unit might feel they don't more input into the farmer's market's. Should there be provisions in the upcoming Development Plans and if so what? A good question for an SPC. Or, are there enough provisions for dogs in the City? If not, what changes to policy should we consider?

That, as far as I can see from the documentation, was the expectation. The reality for me, and many of my fellow external representatives, was that the SPC had become another tick box on the road to policy implementation. Typically, we would receive documents for the next meeting a few days before the meeting, or at the meeting and we would spend 20 mins reviewing the Retail Policy for the City. As the councillors had already participated in discussion on this policy during it's development, they had nothing more to say other than to repeat their position on this policy and the external representatives were desperately looking to find something intelligent to contribute from a hasty reading of the document. As we saw these documents near the end of their progress from idea to publication, there was little chance of our input having any impact, even when we were able to make useful contributions. There was an understandable air of frustration from many of those involved.

The SPCs have lately been disbanded and reformed and we hope for better things going forward. I certainly feel the idea of the SPC is valid and could of great benefit in widening the discussion on policy and helping the external representatives and their organisations to better understand the thinking behind policy development and to challenge the mindset of the of the elected councillors.

I would ask you to consider two thoughts going forward, first the questions we ask and second the language we use.

Beth Novak did a talk on for the Long Now Foundation on what Obama's administration has done on Open Government in the last year, what they have learned and their plans for the future. On President Obama's first day in office he signed a memorandum on Open Government, committing all the departments and agencies to "transparency, participation, and collaboration. One of the lessons they have learnt to successfully encourage participation and collaboration is to ask good questions. In this case, good questions are SMART questions (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relavent and Time bound) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria. So if you are an elected member and an issue arises during the development of policy, why not suggest that this be brought before an SPC? If you are on an SPC, try to get these types of questions on the agenda.

Beth Novak's talk on Open Government: http://www.longnow.org/seminars/02010/mar/04/transparent-government/



The second suggestion comes from a gem in the book The Intelligence Advantage . The book talks about how culture is about language, the way we talk about our problems, the way we listen and the way we discuss. If we want to test whether change is happening, then all we have to do is listen to the way that language is used. If that has not changed, the culture is not changing either.

So if we want a different discussion in our SPCs, a different perspective and viewpoint, then we need to change the balance so that the councillors are drawn into a different conversation. At present the Chair of each SPC is part of the council, so my suggestion is to have the meetings chaired or facilitated by an external representative.

I could am happy to share further experiences and ideas for SPCs and open government, so please feel free to catch me in the next break or contact me later.

The Future of the Irish Sport Horse

Since the glory days of the 1960s and 70s, the number of Irish horses competing in Show Jumping at the top level have dwindled. While our Irish riders still compete at the top level, few of them ride Irish horses because there just are so few able to compete at this level. Horse Sport Ireland have put together a task force to consider what can be done to regain our ranking and their recommendations include education for breeders, better information and communication on breeding, improvements in the production of young horses and changes to the way mares and stallions are classified. All good stuff, but it got me thinking about the sport horse industry as whole and this is an extract from a submission on the subject:

1. We are currently very successful in the breeding of event horses. Any plan to improve show jumpers must ensure we do not lose that ranking.

2. Are we trying to breed IRISH show jumpers or EUROPEAN show jumpers bred in Ireland? I suspect that most of the potential breeding stock in Ireland already have a substantial amount of continental warmblood and that they would be taken to top class continental stallions. There is nothing wrong with that if you aim is to produce a top class show jumper. However, if producing Irish Show Jumpers was a business, we would be asking what is the USP (unique selling point) of the IRISH horse otherwise why will people travel to Ireland to buy a horse that differs little from those produced on the continent?

Maybe the advertising for an elite sales in Ireland in 10 years reads " Looking for a hose that is easy to train, will get you out of trouble and stay sound for years? Come to the Elite Irish Show Jumper sales... "

I am aware this is a challenge for which there is no easy answer but maybe this is a starting point. What gets measured gets done, goes the old saying, so identify what makes Irish horses unique and give these measures prominence in the stud book. Also ensure that these qualities are included in the branding of irish horses.


3. Consider the aim to produce top class show jumpers as part of the overall strategy of building a thriving sport horse industry in Ireland - that includes eventers and leisure horses. What is the traditional Irish Horse suited for? Clearly eventing, at which we continue to be successful, and the leisure and amateur sport horse where the good nature, intelligence and agility of the irish horse are highly prized. It would therefore make commercial sense to focus on the markets for which we already have a good product. That is not to say that I would not like to see Irish Show Jumpers represented again, but suggest that to achieve this we should focus on quality rather than quantity. Properly support a smaller number of specialist breeders with the interest and competance to breed and produce show jumpers, rather than hoping the farmer and small breeder are going to create a large enough pool from which a few good horses will emerge.



By developing all three strands - show jumpers, eventers and leisure horses, with a focus on breeding straightforward horses that are trainable, intelligent and sound, we build a solid foundation for all forms of sport horse and avoid a situation where horses bred for a specialist purpose that cannot fulfill their potential are not suitable for anything else.

Positive Conversations

In the worlds of a childhood song, it's time to "GET OURSELVES UP...




DUST OURSELVES OFF..



AND START ALL OVER AGAIN!


Having been ground down by the endless pessimism about the place, I took Christmas (and most of January) off and concentrated on learning Django - the hottest new framework for website development. But meeting up with my colleagues at Cork Environmental Forum got me back in the saddle and ready to focus on having positive conversations about our future.

That does not mean ignoring the mess we are in and just saying positive things in the hope that the bad stuff will go away. (See Gerard O'Neill's excellent blog and thanks for this twitter link http://tinyurl.com/aasstf).

Positive conversations seek to understand where we are, without lingering too long on why, where we want to get to and how we are going to get there. We fear most what we don't understand and can't control and has little to do with logic. Terrorists from foreign countries and cultures are more frightening than the home brand. Being flown in a big jet which clearly shouldn't be able to fly, is more scary than flying yourself in a small one!

I'm going to get a chance to put the positive conversations idea into action at the first meeting of the Dreamstake network in London on Feb 18th 2009 where I will be facilitating a workshop and discussion around the risks and opportunities in the future. All are welcome!

Japan Car - The Science Museum

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Made one of my periodic trips to the Science Museum in London to worship the Steam Engines and see what had changed.

I think the Steam Engines - all shapes and sizes and some working - are Awesome. In every sense of the word. And never tire of looking at them, especially the early ones, where you can see a brand new idea evolving. It must have been so exciting to design and build them. And then to care for them. Some went on working for well over 100 years and got affectionate names like 'Old Bess'. We rarely get a chance to develop any kind of relationship, other than frustration, with our modern machines. They are just not around long enough.

The Japan Car exhibition includes examples of their mini-cars. A particular spec that limits the dimensions of the car and engine size to 600cc. They have a wide range of cars, including two seat drop head and a var/pickup. Also the iReal. If the segway is an advanced scooter, think of this as an advanced armchair. If we are all zipping around in these things, that take us from inside our homes, to the shops, around the shops and back again, how long will we have to spend in the gym to keep our bodies ticking over? I can see a later version having gym equipment built in to save you that hassle, and maybe even providing some charge for the battery. I really look forward to having one of these when I can no longer stride down the road, and hopefully there will be an off-road version for checking the horses in the field, I will be on equal terms with the more able bodied. But I still like the simplicity of walking. No need to check the battery is charged, just up and go!

Solar car finishes around the world trip

Looks normal enough from the front:
But needs a trailer of solar cells!

For more details of a trip around the world without any oil see http://www.solartaxi.com

Biofuels a transition fuel only

Pic from http://besustainable.com

Here is my argument:

The internal combustion engine is inherently inefficient, loosing more energy through heat and friction than it delivers to drive a vehicle forward. (see Electric v. Combustion engines) We don’t know what inventions will be transporting us around in 50 years time, but the likelihood that they bear much resemblance to a heavy lump of metal, generating heat and exhaust gases seems very unlikely. Therefore, any fuel which is produced with the intention of running a combustion engine are likely to have a limited life.

However, biofuels could be used to generate electricity. The question is are there circumstances where it is more efficient to grow, harvest, process and ‘burn’ a plant than to use wind, waves or sun to directly generate electricity?

Even though the future might be predominantly electric, there will always be niches. Butane Fuel Cells for small devices might replace batteries, and they can provide 20 times the run time of the current battery technology for the same mass. The choice would be recharge your device yourself anywhere you can plug it in or go and buy a butane charge for your fuel cell. Hmmm, think I’ll plug it in thanks and wait for the battery technology to catch up.

Wind, waves and sun are intermittent so some form of storage is required. Maybe biofuels will be best used for powering backup generation?

I’m not convinced of my own argument here, so hoping for someone to point out the flaws in it.

No iReal or Segway for me, I want a K9 to carry stuff

iReal
Segway




Last night I had delicious home cooked stir fry (thanks Flora) and maybe this is what stimulated my imagination as I tried to get to sleep. Been really bothered by the iReal and Segway. The idea that we might lose the use of our legs! I will keep walking. I enjoy walking, but I don't enjoy carrying a heavy bag with a computer, notebook, papers and goats milk. So here is what I want.

I want a K9 (the mechanical dog on Doctor Who), maybe a bigger breed than the one on Doctor Who, who will follow me faithfully wherever I go carrying all the gumpf that normally weighs down my shoulders and pockets. If I get a bit tired with all that walking, I can sit on K9 and he will provide with with, in winter, a nice cup of team, and in summer, a nice cup of tea. He will wait patiently outside the shop, guarding my purse and shopping and will come to the till, when summoned, to pay and pick up the shopping. When I get on the bus, he will hitch himself to the rear of the bus and recharge himself as he is pulled along. In the unlikely event that he runs out of battery (he warns me if his power is getting low and can curl up in the sun to recharge himself from his solar cells) he can can either turn tortoise and wait to be retrieved or throw out a handle to be wheeled home. He will also make life much less stressful by making sure I don't leave the house without the keys or some fresh goats milk and will make sure I take the keys out of the lock and put the goats milk back in the fridge when I get home.

City K9s would be more elegant than country K9s, that would be expected to negotiate mud, ditches and electric fences carrying buckets of feed, bales of hay and fencing posts. Evening K9s would be small chic little things, a fashion accessory, only required to carry purse, keys and lipstick. Special St. Bernard K9s would carry and, if required, entertain small children... Okay got to finish this off and do some real work.

Of course, in the future we will not be carrying paper because we will finally have epaper and we will be doing all our computing on our mobile and the shops will be delivering to our home and medical science will have found a way to get rid of my intolerance of cow's milk. But I still fancy a K9.

Homes for the Future - Pod Living?

The Telegraph yesterday (11/10/08) had an article called Pod Squad about small modular homes.

From a cube on legs which can be craned onto the top of a high rise building from £63,000 - http://loftcube.net/

To a micro compact home, only 2.6m3 but two double beds and two flat screen tvs for £26,000 from http://microcompacthome.com


or an M-House that fits the legal status of a caravan from £147,000 http://m-house.org



Or my favorite, an Eco Pod from http://ecohab.co.uk from only £36,000



Anyone who knows me and my generous house full of 'stuff', not to mention barns and sheds full of 'stuff', will laugh at the idea that I could possibly live in such a small area. And I have to admit I only really fancy it if I could live in Zen like simplicy in my pod in the garden and keep the house for stuff and visitors. But imagine a future where many have lost everything - their homes and cars reposessed along with most of the trappings of the 21st century. And these might not be people falling off the lowest rung of the ladder, but falling off from quite a way up. So as the economy starts to recover, but energy prices making old, large, poorly equipped houses expensive to run, pod living might become fashionable, at least for singles or couples of small stature! This new chic makes a virtue out of simple, low cost living. And for the property developer, knock down that 90s house and put up 20 pod homes!

Energy Scenarios Ireland 2.0

A few years ago, a team from Feasta, including myself, worked on a project for the EPA looking at the impact on Ireland of changing energy prices. We did this in the form of scenario planning and the original website is still here.

But the time has come to review them and reflect the rapid changes of the last years. We will be doing this review in the form of a blog and them publishing the full report at the end of the year. We have kicked of the process at energyscenariosireland.blogspot.com and look forward to being challenged and corrected in our assumptions!

Finally bringing together my sporting interests and business interests, I have posted on what I think the main risks and opportunities are for horse sports in Ireland in an favourable scenario.

(Hmm, need a logo for Energy Scenarios Ireland, fork in the road? clock? ....... Nothing comes to mind, but love this image from Global Business Network as an example of Scenario Planning concept).

The Future of Television?

Some years ago I wrote about how the last thing I wanted from a future TV was the ability to watch anything I wanted any time. Way, way to much choice! I love my TiVo because it gives me a choice of when I watch but from a limited choice of programs I have already recorded or ones the TiVo thought I might like. But it doesn't solve the choice problem that is approaching, when TV switches to the internet and we have choice from all over the world and a mix of professional and amateur channels.

Here is an idea. Maybe I am in a minority, but I like the trailers before the film. If there were programs recommending what to view where I had the opportunity to press a button and say 'record that one', I'd enjoy that. The Top Gear team could preview the upcoming motoring films, documentaries and youTubes. Daniel Craig could do My favorite films for a first date, Greenmonk can give us the lowdown on video podcasts and documentaries on all things green, I can share with the world what I enjoyed even.  The most popular preview programs will be those that are entertaining in their own right and we will learn which presenters have similar tastes to our own.

Key to success would be getting the decision level right. Don't ask me to make decisions too often and don't give me too big a choice.

Energy Demand - Just because we want it, doesn't mean we are going to get it!

Listening to a podcast on the solution to the energy problem (nuclear in the case), I was increasingly frustrated by the fundamental assumptions the speaker was making about the future that are dubious if not plain wrong. So at a future date I am going to do a blog on all the assumptions, often unstated, that are being made in the energy area. These include, oil production will continue to increase (Internation Energy Outlook for 2008 EIA), mix of energy types (liquid/gas/electric) will remain about the same, energy production will continue to be largely centralised, no new technology that can significantly effect supply or demand, the future will continue the trends of the past and for this post, energy demand will continue to grow at current rates.

(Note that graph does not seem to match with text in EIA report:

Total non-OECD energy demand increases by 85 percent in the IEO2008 reference case projection, as compared with an increase of 19 percent in OECD energy use. The robust growth in demand among the non-OECD nations is largely the result of strong projected economic growth. In all the non-OECD regions combined, economic activity—as measured by GDP in purchasing power parity terms—increases by 5.2 percent per year on average, as compared with an average of 2.3 percent per year for the OECD countries.)

For energy demand to continue to increase at this rate, the assumptions underlying this are:

• demand = consumption
• consumption is met by energy producers
• increasing demand/consumption requires additional energy generation capacity

The first assumption under this heading, is that energy demand equals energy consumption. In the past the market has been able to match demand by increasing production. The whole point about peak oil is that production cannot be further increased and therefore there may be a demand there, but it cannot necessarily be met.

The second assumption is that there will continue to be a centralised model of energy supply. Large power stations or windfarms put electricity onto the grid and the consumer takes electricity from the grid. Large oil companies supply liquid fuels to filling stations. Gas companies move gas along pipelines to point of use. Distributed power generation is increasing with small generation also feeding into the grid, but micro-generation can bypass the grid altogether, feeding direct to an appliance or into a buildings supply. Farmers are growing their own biodiesel and having it processed locally. It is therefore possible for energy consumption to increase but for demand for energy from suppliers to decrease.

For our lifetimes, energy has been cheap. So cheap that we can afford to waste it. Electricity suppliers have been forced to meet our demands to use as much energy as we want whenever we want. This leads to huge peaks and troughs in demand both an a daily, weekly and seasonal basis, and sudden peaks such as the end of a the World Cup Football when all the kettles go on. Variable pricing and smart metering is starting to be introduced and the effect of this will be to allow us to make use of energy when it is cheap (and plentiful) and defer use when it is expensive. We can run our washing machines when it is windy and cheap, rather than waiting to run out of clean clothes. Businesses can top up their refrigerator plant on windy nights and shut them down quickly in the case of sudden peaks of electricity demand. Petrol has been so cheap that we can afford to lose 80% of it's energy in heat and friction in the combustion engines that drive our cars, electric cars are inherently more efficient, even including losses from electricity generation (see http://pbjots.blogspot.com/2008/07/electric-vs-combustion-engine.html).


We have an insatiable appetite for cheap energy and my long term view is that we will work out how to harness the abundant energy that surrounds us. In the future we will be able to generated energy when we want it and where we want it. Each machine will create its own energy and maybe our homes will be their own mini-grid. The national grids will become a phase in history and energy demand and energy consumption will only be of interest to academics who must estimate our usage.

But I do not expect to see that in my lifetime! In developed countries, in the short term, I expect to see the need for large scale additional energy production decline because:

1. Production from power plants will be used more efficiently. With smart metering, variable pricing, intelligent homes and demand response we can flatten the peaks and use up the troughs.
2. The price of energy is reaching a tipping point where it is eating into peoples disposable income. People will be actively looking for ways to reduce their energy use by reducing waste and using costly energy more efficiently - sales of SUVs are falling, more is being spent on home insulation etc.
3. Innovation around energy use in products will significantly increase their efficiency. It has not been cost effective until now to spend significant money on R&D in this area. Once product designers start looking at the way products use energy as a whole, rather than just increasing efficiency of existing technology, significant gains can be made. The promise of nanotechnology is to create minute motors that use far less energy and increase the efficiency of energy generation. This might mean shaking a laptop once an hour to generate enough energy to run it!
4. Micro generation is becoming affordable, reducing demand from the grid.
5. Repair rather than Replace. As it becomes more expensive to make disposable products because of the increase in price of energy to make and distribute products and the increasing price of feedstock (plastic is made largely from oil), companies will move towards designing products for repair. This is already happening as insurance companies seek to repair instead of replace on claims. Repairs, especially with development of small scale fabrication equipment mean components can be manufactured locally, and this will require less energy.

(I have to say I am not 100% convinced of my own argument that we won't need additional large scale generation plant - but I want to throw it out there just to challenge assumptions that are being made.)

Developing countries have the opportunity to avoid our wasteful mistakes but also have different challenges:

• increasing population - fertility rates in developed countires are generally less than replacement, which is about 2.33 but depends on the country. See league table here and article in wikipedia
• need to address poverty - increasing standard of living for the poor requires more energy.

So while some of the factors for developed counties hold true, energy consumption will certainly increase if economic conditions allow. However, some of this consumption could be from locally produced supply.

China's consumption of energy is growing rapidly and 70% of it from Coal. World energy production will be heavily influenced by what happens in China. It is not clear to me what proportion of China's energy is used in producing goods for export, which will suffer a downturn should energy production and transport costs become high enough to make local production cheaper. eg. foods and other perishables. If there is also a move to repair rather than replace, what will this do to energy consumption? There is an overview of China and energy here: http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/274 and I would be interested to hear from anyone with more information.



There is one final assumption - that the world economy will continue to grow. Just because it has done during our lifetimes, does not make economic growth inevitable. If we have a world recession, there is a whole different scenario, but shhhhh, don't say anything because if you do, it might happen.

Future Cities and more Hydrogen

Watched a fun presentation on the kinds of technology we might find in a future city, from folding cars to desalination plant. Part of the infrastructure was algae producing hydrogen which was sent down pipelines to supply transport vehicles, cooling cables on the way. I have the feeling, and I may well be wrong, that we assuming hydrogen will be part of the future mix and are looking for solutions.

Supposing the best use of algae was to create hydrogen, would it not be more energy efficient to convert directly to electricity and put the electricity on the grid than creating an additional infrastructure for hydrogen, not to mention more complex engines? I would be very interested to see the capital costs and running costs of hydrogen vs. electric cars. Given that hydrogen cars are electric cars with the addition of a fuel cell and hydrogen storage, it must be considerably more?

Geekcorps

Cork Environmental Forum - a local NGO working to foster, promote and implement sustainable development in the Cork region - is wrestling with how to run a volunteer organisation where our lives are so busy it is hard to find time to do more. Does technology have a role to play in volunteer organisations of the future, and if so, how?

Geekcorp are volunteer technologists helping to implement technology in developing countries at a grass roots level. I particularly enjoyed this project How to make a BottleNet Antenna where ingenuity rather than money provides the solution to developing local wifi with locally available materials.

Washing Machines in 2017

I found myself trying to explain how different I thought things might be in the future, not Business as Usual, but what? For some reason I heard myself say "So take washing machines..." Having thought about it since, it's not such a bad example. So here is my text for an advert for a Washing Machine Upgrade in 2017. I am assuming an Enlightened Transition type scenario (no major economic shock and proactive moves to replace fossil-fuels. See http://info.energyscenariosireland.com/Enlightened_Transition)


Everwash 2.0 Software Upgrade
- works with all our models
- includes API upgrade
- interface with home networks
- works with energy saving controllers version 1.0 and above
- new cycle for cold wash for use with Coolwash detergent.
- Include wash cycle for latest Gucci range of nanofibre range.
Upgrade cost €50 for machines over 3 years old.

Everwash washing machines available in 3 sizes
Every part can be replaced with parts available from local repair shop within 24 hours.
Running costs lowest on the market.
Lease cost €99/year with buy-back option after 10 years.
10% discount when you signup to our power package.


Explanation

It is now expensive to make machines, so they are designed to be repaired quickly and cheaply using parts which can be made locally by a local fab shop. Designs for all parts are held online and are downloadable directly to the fab machine for a cost per download.

Rather than upgrading the machinery, companies make money by providing a servicing/leasing option and software upgrades. As most appliances are now supplied on a service basis, this gives the company every incentive to make the machine long lasting, easy to repair and easy to recycle.

The need to drive down the cost per wash has challenged fabric manufacturers and detergent company to come up with longer lasting fabrics that can be washed a low temperatures. These washes require special wash cycles. The software has been opened up to allow amateur washing machine hackers who now carry out much of the development of new code for the company. Where this custom software is used in new releases, the programmers get one of payments of €1000.

Washing machines can now link into the home intranet and be controlled from any computer or internet device (such as a phone) linked into the home network.

Appliances can now be controlled by power companies, where there are agreements with the household. This allows the power company to quickly dump load on unexpected peaks and to schedule non-urgent services, such as a machine wash, for low usage times. The appliance has an interface to allow the user to specify the urgency of the wash and/or the maximum they are prepared to pay for the wash.

Inspiration

Fab Labs - http://fab.cba.mit.edu/
Change from selling product to services - The Natural Step and Interface Carpets
Smart Metering and Energy Demand Management
The rise of the Amateur Professional - Charles Leadbetter Ted Talk

New technology for an energy efficient world

Amazing what er can do if want to!  A couple of items that came to my attention today:

Fluorescent paper that glows for 12 years - http://www.physorg.com/news116776284.html

Wind up camera - http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/13/sonys-odo-twirl-n-take-a-wind-up-camera-concept/

Energy efficient server from Dell is referred to in this google tech talk, which is a lot more interesting than the title might suggest - Electricity use and efficiency of servers and data center - about implementing energy efficiency changes and the likely increase in energy demand from large scale computing.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOJoB38OxK0&sdig=1

Toys influence on children?

I wonder how much influence the toys we play with as children have on our grown up mentality? I just say a TV ad for a supermarket checkout till, in plastic, aimed at 5-6 year old girls, that prompted them to "put through the milk now", "now put through the red item", "well done!". And this was an educational toy! At first I thought this was aimed at the number one pastime of younge people today, shopping. But no, the child is not shopping, they are operating the till. In my day nobody wanted to grow up to work the tills in the shops, I hope things havn't changed so much that this reflects the aspirations of todays kids.

On a related theme, I read an article somewhere that was asking if electronic toys were any good for children. The conclusion was that those that just commanded them to do things were not, being told what to do it not play after all, but that any toy that the child could control and use as part of their imaginary world was just fine. Makes sense to me.

Back to the land - with technology

OK bad scenario time. World economy meltdown, fighting over limited resources, collapse of the cosy western world many of us grew up in and back to the land in order to scrape a living. But not back to the land the way our forefathers knew it because we have two things they didn't: the internet and junk.

Image how much stuff we could make from all the junk lying around, electricity generators, wind powered washing machines - Scrapheap Challenge here we come!

Yes I know the internet would be badly hit by economic collapse, but the internet was designed to be a hugely robust network that could cope with loss of servers. The internet in the scenario might be a pale reflection of what we have now if capacity and bandwidth is limited, but still an invaluable means of sharing information and innovation quickly and widely. Already one sixth of the world's population is connected to the Internet and growing fast in developing countries, who are developing their own long-distance wireless technology for areas where is not economic telecoms companies.
Casting a wider net - Principal Voices
http://www.principalvoices.com/2007/technology.innovation/casting_a_wider_net.html

Jimmy Wales points out the difference between an internet enabled farmer who can find a market for his products online and a situation where that information is controlled by a middle man and the farmer is left with fewer choices and a smaller share of the revenue.

Have only dipped into Principal Voices, but really looking foward to listening to more.