Uzbek Gas for Export: Will Political Maneuvering between China and Russia Result in Higher Export Price?
The main research question is “Will political maneuvering between China and Russia result in higher export price for Uzbek gas?” In 2008, the price of gas exports from Uzbekistan was US$160 per 1,000 cubic meters. On the other hand Gazprom used to charge its European customers an average of US$350 per 1,000 cubic meters. 
 
On July 1, 2008, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan has begun laying their respective stretches of the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline. The construction began at the settlement of Saet in the Bukhara region. The cost of the Uzbek stretch of the gas pipeline is estimated to be over USD 2 billion. The total cost of the 1,818-kilometer long gas pipeline Turkmenistan-China is about USD7 billion. If implemented, the Turkmenistan-China pipeline might undermine Russia’s ability to manipulate the Central Asian gas market and stir up energy competition between Russia and China. It should be noted that with estimated natural gas reserves of 66.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), Uzbekistan is the third largest natural gas producer in the Commonwealth of Independent States (after Russia and Turkmenistan) and one of the top fifteen natural gas-producing countries in the world. 
 
According to the schedule approved by the decree of the Uzbek President, the first line of the gas pipeline and compressor station is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. According to schedule, the first stage will end in January 2010. The second line of the gas pipeline and two more compressor stations are expected to be launched by January 2012. 
 
Gazprom’s reaction to this development was almost immediate. Therefore, the purchase prices in these countries more than doubled in 2009 compared to the levels at which Gazprom has bought gas in 2008 
 
The conclusion of the research is that alternative pipeline to China will strengthen the bargaining power of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and may result in higher export gas prices. However, given the fact that Chinese themselves are unwilling to match the price that Europeans are paying for gas, the increase will not be very significant. Therefore, Uzbekistan, as well other Central Asian countries, should continue their efforts to construct and participate in other alternative gas pipelines, such as Trans-Caspian, Nabucco, Trans-Afghan, and Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline projects.
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Established in 1965 by 31 member governments to promote social and economic progress in the Asia-Pacific region. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) began operations in December 1966. Up until Sep. 2005, the ADB had 64 member countries, with 46 from the Asia-
Thermally Induced Dynamics of Satellite Solar Panels
Thermally induced structural motions are known to affect the attitude dynamics of low Earth orbiting satellites during eclipse transitions. Motions of e exible appendages such as solar panels lead to rigid body rotations of the entire satellite because the total angular momentum of the system is conserved. These potentially large attitude disturbances may violate pointing accuracy and jitter requirements. One type of thermally induced dynamics exhibited by solar panels is thermal snap. The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite is a prominent example of a satellite that experiences thermal snap disturbances during eclipse transitions. This paper describes recent studies of thermally induced dynamicsof solarpanels, including an analysisofsatelliteattitudedynamics resulting from thermally induced structural motions and a laboratory investigation of the thermal-structural performance of a satellite solar panel. Analytical and experimental results demonstrate thermal bending deformations with acceleration transients that have characteristic thermal snap disturbance histories in response to rapid changes in heating. The studies show that solar panel thermal snap disturbances are caused by through-the-thickness temperature differences that vary at a nonconstant rate. Finite element analysis correctly predicts the thermal snap phenomenon observed in the solar panel experiments.