When you think of environmental superheroes you probably think back to that famous 90s cartoon Captain Planet.
The blue-skinned eco-warrior would fly around the world tackling evil-doers cutting down trees and dumping toxic waste in nice clean rivers.
Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini is probably one of the last people you would think of that could come to the rescue of Planet Earth.
But the Frenchman has just lifted the lid on a company he secretly started seven years ago which could be about to save us all from global environmental catastrophe.
How the hell can a footballer do that you might ask? And we asked ourselves that very same question.
Flamini has poured millions of pounds into research and development into a product that could eventually replace oil which is currently contributing to dangerous climate change.
His company ‘GF Biochemicals’ is the first to mass produce Levulinic Acid (LA), which is said to be able to replace oil in all its forms.
‘We are pioneers. We are opening a new market and it’s a market potentially worth £20billion,’ the footballer told The Sun.
Flamini told the paper he has always been environmentally-conscious and when he heard about the potential of LA to replace oil he started pouring his money into researching it.
Now the player has a factory in Caserta, Italy, which employs 80 people directly as well as operations in Milan and Holland. He said that his family and friends have only just found out about his venture.
The green product could potentially be used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, plastic and food industries, amongst others and could make him billions of pounds.
Well played, sir. Well played.
