Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini has revealed he is behind a "trailblazing company" that could revolutionize the £20B ($30.4B) energy industry, according to Tom Sheen of the London INDEPENDENT. Flamini, 31, has been developing his company GF Biochemicals for several years and "already employs around 80 people at a plant in Caserta, Italy" -- in total around 400 people make a living from his and partner Pasquale Granata's project. The French midfielder this week announced that his firm, "after millions spent and years of research, can mass produce Levulinic Acid, a replacement for oil." The acid "could potentially be used as a bio fuel or to make pharmaceuticals, plastics, cosmetics and even food preservatives." Flamini has funded the project since '08, "but has kept it quiet until now." He said, "For seven years I haven’t mentioned it to anyone. When I moved to Milan in 2008 I met Pasquale, who became a close friend and we always had in mind to do something together. I was always close to nature and concerned about environmental issues, climate change and global warming. He was on the same wavelength. ... Yes, I invested a lot of money in this. It was a big risk. But to be successful you take risks. It was a challenge." Flamini said that he "continued to doubt after pouring in millions of his personal fortune." He added, "I was not thinking about losing millions. When I started I knew it would happen but of course there are times when you doubt" (INDEPENDENT, 11/15).
