[texhax] Invisible footnote mark?

[Simmie, John]

I need to insert a footnote but with an invisible footnote marker both
in the text and in the footnote itself.
Is this possible?  Or is there an alternative way?

\title{Harmonic Biofuels: Vertical Integration of the Production, the
Properties and the Environmental Consequences of Liquid Transport Fuels
from Biomass}
\author{John M. Simmie$^{\ast}$ and Judith Wuermel}
\date{} % Activate to display a given date or no date (if empty),

\begin{document}
\maketitle
\footnote{J. M. Simmie, J. Wuermel\\
 Combustion Chemistry Centre, School of Chemistry\\
National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland)\\
E-mail: johm.simmie at nuigalway.ie}
\section{Introduction}
............

Plain old article documentclass ... nothing fancy in the preamble


Emeritus Professor John Simmie::Combustion Chemistry Centre::NUI Galway,
Ireland