A group of San Francisco Bay Area pilots based at Reid-Hillview Airport (RHV) have joined together to form the first non-profit fuel club in California that will bring 92 octane unleaded ethanol-free fuel to Bay Area pilots as an alternative to 100LL.
California’s 10% ethanol mandate for auto fuel dried up all sources of FAA approved mogas in the state, so the group searched outside of California and was able to locate a source of ethanol-free fuel that can reliably be delivered to the airfield for a reasonable price, according to officials.
Targeting older airplanes that qualify for a mogas STC, and light sport and experimental aircraft designed to run on mogas, the California Fuel Club was formed to reduce flying costs, clean up the environment, and add longevity to mogas certified engines. As a 501(c)(4) non-profit, membership is open to the general public for a minimal fee and the club expects to make 92 octane fuel available to its members for at least a $1 cheaper than 100LL, officials said.
A self-service fueling station will allow members to fuel up at their convenience while helping to keep costs down, though plans are being considered to have on-site delivery available during specific hours.
For more information: 415-518-8776 or RHVAA.org.
California does NOT have a state “10% ethanol mandate for auto fuel”. The refineries in California are only responding to the unintended consequences of the federal RFS mandate in EISA 2007. Because each gasoline producer has an ever increasing quota of ethanol to blend each year, it appears that it was easy for the California refiners to make the change to BOB production and blend a lot of gasoline in the one state that is the major gasoline market in the country, thus delaying the conversion to BOB at other refineries in smaller markets. However that will not delay the blending wall which will occur no later than next year. An analysis shows that E10 has completely taken over the densest markets in the NE, the West and Texas and is spreading south and into the NW and slowly across the rural midsection which ironically makes most of the ethanol.
There are only five states with active mandatory E10 laws, MN, MO, HI, OR and FL, and two states with untriggered mandatory E10 laws, MT and PA.