Competitions, Russia

Hori ntalEetort. In 1800, the first commercial zinc process made use of the horizontal retort. In 1980, only three such plants remain because they are not competitive in terms of labor and fuel costs. Furthermore, the dust produced presents a serious pollution problem. Nevertheless, in 1956, the tonnage of zinc produced from horizontal retorts was above that of any previous year. The only remaining operation is in Russia with a capacity of 10,000 annual MT. 

Total worldwide sales of iadustrial diamond are currentiy about one biUion dollars (ca 100 t) per year. They are made in 16 countries the largest producers are General Electric, De Beers, which also has a large stake in natural diamonds, several Japanese firms, the People s RepubHc of China, and Russia. The market is very competitive, and manufacturers are reluctant to disclose detailed sales information. 

A low calorific value gas, which includes nitrogen from air, could be produced for boiler or turbine use in electric power production, or an intermediate calorific value gas containing no nitrogen for an industrial fuel gas, or synthesis gas for chemical and methane production could be provided. This approach which has been studied in Russia, Europe, Japan, and the United States, is stiU noncommercial in part because it is not economically competitive. 

In 2005, the contract for the European XFEL facility had already been signed by 12 major European countries including Russia and by China. Estimated cost is 800 M= with added 50 M= for detector development. The facility shall be operational in 2013. There are several competitive projects around the world. The Linac Coherent Light Source (LNLS) in Stanford, USA, is under construction and shall be operational in 2009. Korea and Japan have announced respective projects. A Japanese XFFL shall be operational in 2008. 

As for gas, it can be said, that the projected growth scenarios for conventional gas seem justified from the point of view of ultimately recoverable resources and that, unlike oil, no major discrepancies between projected demand and supply are to be expected in the coming decades. An important aspect of the future availability of natural gas, however, is the creation of the necessary infrastructure for the production and subsequent transport of the gas to the customer. An increased demand competition between Europe, the United States and Asia is likely to be expected this concerns, for instance, a possible supply of Asia, particularly China, with gas from Russia, or an extended competition for LNG between the EU and the USA. 

The post WWII period of aeronautical development began with only US and Russia engaged in airship construction and this only to a limited extent due to competition from airplanes Balloons, Application, in War. The first use of balloons by the military appears to date from the period of the French revolutionary wars(1789-99), when a corps of aeronauts was formed and sent by the French in balloons over the Dutch add Austrian troops. The unexpected appearance of balloons had a demoralizing effect on the enemy and caused them to retreat. Later(1812), the Prussians employed balloons against the Napoleonic troops, but without great success. Balloons were also used for bombing purposes, as briefly described under Bombs, Hiseorical(see under BOMBS)... 

Consequently Russia seems to continue harbouring its ambition to control natural gas exports from Central Asia and Azerbaijan. This pursuit is partially supported by the lack of competition and the absence of appropriate activities by western companies [19]. President Putin s policy to establish closer relations with Central Asia and South Caucasian neighbours may play an important role as well in the future. 

One of the ways to achieve the competitiveness of PV power station is to apply bifacial PV modules originally designed by Prof. D. Strebkov and his colleagues for Russian low orbit satellites in 1970. Today bifacial cells and modules are manufactured in Russia for terrestrial application. In our case bifacial solar cells allow to increase acceptance angle for concentrator system. 

Finally, throughout the study and subsequent formation of the commercial venture there has been the recognition of the more advanced state of this industry in mainland Europe and the volume of plant material very competitively priced coming from Russia and the former Eastern Bloc countries. 

Irrespective of the situation regarding energy sources in the world market, petroleum and gas always will play an important role in the home market because they are the most valuable raw material for the petrochemical industry. More than 2000 kinds of products are made from this raw material. Russia is interested that domestic petrochemical synthesis becomes an independent and powerful sector of industrial manufacture, and also becomes competitive in the world market. It is also interested that the country exports not only crude oil, but also much more value-added products of petroleum processing. This will bring appreciable income into the country. 

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