May 28, 2019
S.C. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette visited Aiken on Tuesday, touring Green Energy Biofuel’s headquarters in Warrenville.
“I will tell your story all over the state,” Evette told the company’s owners, Joe and Beth Renwick.
Earlier in the day, at the Aiken Republican Club meeting, Evette discussed taking a “team South Carolina” approach to leadership by spreading success stories from Aiken, such as GEB’s recent expansion in the county, to other areas like Charleston and Greenville.
Green Energy Biofuel, a clean energy fuel company, recently relocated its headquarters from Winnsboro to Warrenville. The company has enjoyed expansive growth in the 11 years since its founding, prompting its move to Aiken.
Green Energy Biofuel collects waste grease from restaurants and industrial food manufacturers to convert into feedstock, which can be processed into biofuel that serves as an environmentally-friendly alternative to petroleum-based fuel.
On Tuesday afternoon, Joe Renwick, the company’s founder and co-owner, took Evette through the facility, showing off samples of feedstock and the newly operational rail spur. They discussed clean energy options in South Carolina and how Green Energy Biofuel will bring growth to Aiken County.
Joe Renwick said having Evette tour the facility helped bring attention to the biofuel industry, something that is “just not a common conversation.”
“The toughest thing with what we do is, who in the world recycles or talks about recycling animal fat and cooking oil?” Renwick said.
“Things like this help immensely on that bigger level (with) the credibility, that we aren’t just some local yokel small little company,” he continued. “I mean, we’re big, we’re doing big things in a lot of places. Having people like her come to take a tour of the plant, definitely, definitely helps.”