Mathieu Flamini's no fuel

UK — Flamini, knows everything about putting energy into Arsenal’s engine room — but it is clear he knows a lot about the energy field in general. He employs around 80 people in the plant of his company GF Biochemicals in Caserta. And around 400 workers in total make a living thanks to the Frenchman and his business partner Pasquale Granata. It cost him millions and took years of research, trials, and several major scientific breakthroughs. But recently Flamini announced that GF had became the first company in the world that can mass produce Levulinic Acid, which can replace oil in all its forms.They are the first to enter a market worth an estimated £20billion.

From bio-fuels, to pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, plastics or even food preservatives and countless other applications, the acid could make Flamini a very rich man. But this was not what drove him.

And it was an incredible journey that Flamini kept quiet until now. It started when Flamini left Arsenal to join AC Milan in 2008. He became close friends with economics graduate Granata, 32, who shared the central midfielder’s environmental concerns. Flamini spent millions to fund the research, find and equip a factory in Italy and run the costly trials that lasted years. recounting the origins of pair’s venture, he explained: “GF stands for Granata-Flamini.

“At the start we wanted the name of the company to be Green Futures. 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. We were looking how we could make a contribution to the problem.

“After a while we found out about Levulinic Acid. It’s a molecule identified by the US Department of Energy as one of the 12 molecules with the potential to replace petrol in all its forms.”

Flamini added: “Researchers told us LA is the future and by doing research in that field we could come up with a great discovery and success. We financed the research by the Milan Polytechnic. After several months we came up with the technology of how to produce LA on an industrial scale, meaning cheaply and cost-effectively. We patented it.”

But it was not plain sailing from then on. The ex-France international added: “Once you have a process you move from the lab to the plant. But you must adapt the technology to the plant and that becomes hard work. We found a plant and equipped it. We thought it was going to be like a car — you put the key in and the engine starts. It was not like that. We started with trials. Switch on the plant, switch it off all that at big cost, analyse the data, what’s working, what’s not, adapt, improve or change. It was constant evolution for years.

Flamini continued: “Today we have several patents on LA. They give a real advantage. We are the first company — and the only one in the world — to produce LA on an industrial scale. We started production this summer. It comes from wood waste or corn waste etc.”

He added: “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. We employ around 80 people in the plant and we give work in total to about 400 people. Which at a time of crisis in Italy makes me even prouder. There is the plant in Caserta in Italy, we have a lab there, an office in Milan with another in Holland, and we’re planning to open an office in the US soon.”

Proudly, he continued: “We have researchers, chemists and other scientists, from France, Italy, Russia, Holland, Germany and Egypt. And we work closely with the famous University of Pisa — one of the most prestigious universities in Italy. The head of the chemistry department is one of Italy’s top scientists in LA research. She is Professor Anna Maria Raspoli Galletti and we are so grateful to her. We are pioneers. We are opening a new market. And it’s a market potentially worth £20bn.

“Many people tried and failed to find a way to produce LA on a break-even basis. Obviously, when you start something like that and you spend so much money, and where there is risk there is stress. To me, it was an escape. A football career is made of ups and downs. It cleared my mind and helped me to think about something different. And it was something intellectually challenging too. Pasquale and I still ask — why us? So many people have tried and failed before so why did we succeed?

“But it’s about believing. I read up on chemistry. I am not a chemist, I started my law studies at Marseille University until I had to give up because of my football career. But I know a lot about LA and the process of course.”

Amazingly, Flamini was devoting money and tireless energy on this company — but no-one knew. 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. Not even my family knew anything about it. My parents did not know about it until about a year ago. First, they were worried, but now they are proud. My Milan team-mates probably found out in our launch this week and my Arsenal teammates will probably find out reading this. I don’t think Arsene Wenger knows, I never spoke to him about it. I wanted it to be all in place first, up and running and announce it when I was ready.

“We’ve come here after seven years of work. We achieved something that has never been done before. Of that I am the most proud.”

About GFBiochemicals

GFBiochemicals is the only company to produce levulinic acid at commercial scale directly from biomass.

In 2008, a group of biobased chemical experts saw the significant potential of levulinic acid to replace petroleum-based products across a range of market sectors. GFBiochemicals was founded to develop the production technology needed for this revolution in chemicals and biofuels.

GFBiochemicals demonstrated these breakthrough technologies in the Caserta plant, in partnership with the University of Pisa and the Polytechnic University of Milan. This commercial-scale plant was retrofitted with new conversion, recovery and purification technology.

With production at Caserta to be scaled up to 10,000 MT/a by 2017, GFBiochemicals expects substantial growth in the levulinic acid market coming years. Our team of technical experts have decades of experience in innovation, production and business development. Funded and supported by private investors, GFBiochemicals is committed for the long-term.

For further information about GFBiochemicals, please visit the website here.