“Formula E were looking for another option other than mains power or diesel,” explains Andy Welch, Aquafuel Research Ltd’s Formula E team manager says. “That matches the whole ethos of the series. With glycerine you can get the emissions extremely low. It’s way below all the emission controls in Europe.

“The fuel itself is renewable. Most of it at moment comes as a by-product from the bio-fuel industry. It’s water soluble. It’s non-toxic. It has no odour. I know that it doesn’t make much sense to most people, that you can use it as a fuel. But here we have it.”

Aquafuel adapts standard production diesel engines to use a substance that is a by-product of the biodiesel production process – and, Welch says, is so clean you could drink it.

These generators can be either fixed to one spot, and used to provide electricity and heating for buildings, as a mobile generator for powering events such as Formula E or as a charging station for electric vehicles.

Welch came to Aquafuel from a motoring background – mainly the junior Formula series. “So the mentality of the set-up I was very familiar with,” he says.

Formula E donated the generator used at this year’s Paris e. Prix to the host city – and it is currently locked into the French grid and helping deal with energy production surpluses.   

“Quite often we will get an industrial plant that will bring us a by-product and ask if we can burn that for fuel,” says Welch. “Now we are seeing these generators used in schools and buildings. There thousands of diesel generators in permanent installations in every city so there’s a big push to clean the whole things up, emissions wise.

“People are very aware that they have to clean their acts up – and that’s what we are helping them do.”