Donald Watkins' Masada Group eyes Asia for ethanol plants

Birmingham's Masada Resource Group, the trash-to-fuel energy company led by Donald Watkins, said today it plans to build hundreds of ethanol plants worldwide.
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The company said it has hired Robert H. J. Lee to lead the effort. Lee is a California businessman with extensive Asian and European contacts through serving on the boards of publicly traded companies in those areas. He also is the inventor of power saving technologies for hand-held devices and notebook computers.

Privately held Masada said it plans to "lead green energy initiatives in China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Ghana, South Korea, Denmark and France" by building and operating solid waste-to-ethanol production plants.

"We are excited to have Robert H. J. Lee as our leader in China and Asia," Masada CEO Watkins said in a statement. "He has broad international business experience and a clear vision of how to turn Asia's waste streams into clean, renewable fuels."

Watkins formerly practiced law in Birmingham, serving as legal counsel for the city. He also successfully defended former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy from criminal accounting-fraud charges, and is the principal owner of Birmingham's Alamerica Bank.

Masada's Web site says the company's has plants in development in Orange County, N.Y., the Dominican Republic and Switzerland.

source: blog.al