Date: December 17, 2007
Source: Masada Resource Group, LLC
Masada Teams With Leading Waste Management Firm to Produce Ethanol From Municipal Solid Waste in the Dominican Republic
Masada Resource Group, LLC of Birmingham, Alabama, the world's leading municipal solid waste-to-ethanol technology firm, has teamed with RJ Zapata & Associates S.A., one of the largest privately owned groups of waste management companies in the Dominican Republic, to develop and operate commercial-scale waste-to-ethanol and electricity production facilities in the country. The two companies signed a long-term joint-venture agreement last month to build facilities in the Dominican Republic that will produce fuel-grade ethanol and electricity from ordinary household garbage.
Rafael Zapata, President of RJ Zapata and a leading businessman in the country, brokered the Zapata-Masada deal. "This is a historic moment for the Dominican Republic," said Zapata. "This partnership allows us to dispose of the City of Santo Domingo East's municipal solid waste and create up to 30 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol annually and substantial electrical power in the process. This is a win-win situation for everybody involved".
"We are excited to have RJ Zapata as our team leader in the Dominican Republic," said Donald V. Watkins, Masada's chief executive officer. "They run a world-class waste hauling operation and have a clear vision of how to turn the Dominican Republic's waste streams into clean, renewable fuels. We are extremely proud of this partnership."
Masada has been the global leader of waste-to-ethanol technology for more than twelve years. Working with the U.S. Government's Department of Energy and Tennessee Valley Authority over the past decade, Masada developed and patented the innovative CES OxyNol process that converts household garbage into ethanol and other beneficial byproducts. Masada's pilot plant operations were located at the Tennessee Valley site. The company's first U.S. commercial waste-to- ethanol facility is slated for construction in Orange County, New York, and will handle 800 tons a day of garbage.
Masada is licensing its technology and process globally.
Masada recently teamed with Auburn University, one of America's leading research institutions in renewable energy from biomass, to advance the company's development of a commercially viable biofuel alternative for jet aviation fuels. The company is also pioneering with Auburn in pulp mill sludge-to-ethanol technology.
RJ Zapata will be Masada's exclusive waste-to-ethanol partner for the Dominican Republic under the 20-year agreement. The ethanol and other byproducts created at the Zapata-Masada waste-to-ethanol facilities can be sold locally or exported to other markets.
Masada is expanding its waste-to-ethanol business operations by teaming with existing waste management companies in Central America, the Caribbean and South America. The company has applied for and/or secured international patents in nearly three dozen countries.
Announcement of the Zapata-Masada deal comes at a time when the national government of the Dominican Republic is addressing the country's energy production needs through strong laws that support this initiative.
For more information, visit: www.masada.com.
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