In what is sure to provide more fodder for the ongoing debate over the future of leaded avgas, the Children’s Environmental Health Initiative, at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment in Durham, N.C., recently released a study “A Geospatial Analysis of the Effects of Aviation Gasoline on Childhood Blood Lead Levels”. In this research, […]
LGB air quality to be studied, autogas cited as partial solution
According to an article in the Long Beach Business Journal, the air quality at Long Beach Airport (LGB) in Southern California will soon be the subject of a major study. As cited in the article, “A regional air pollution control agency in Southern California, in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is planning […]
Cloudy skies ahead for ethanol
On Dec. 31, 2011, the 45 cent per gallon federal “blender credit” for ethanol finally ended with little fanfare, as described in this article from U.S. News. Since fuel producers are still required to meet the RFS ethanol mandates in EISA 2007, the end to the credits will have no effect on the continued adulteration […]
Fracking, Bakken, Marcellus and GA
Some of the best energy news in recent years is the discovery of massive oil and gas reserves in the Bakken and Marcellus fields, among others. Thanks to advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking), deposits once thought unprofitable have now created an economic boom in Montana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and other places where […]
Mississippi Senator seeks to require ethanol-free gasoline
Mississippi State Senator Michael Watson has just introduced Senate Bill 2137, “An act to require retail dealers and distributors of gasoline to offer for sale or use nonethanol-blended unleaded premium grade gasoline.” When asked for his motivation, the Senator from Pascagula, on Mississippi’s Gulf coast, replied: “Being from the coast, I continue to hear about […]
Why can’t I find ethanol-free fuel?
One of the most frequent questions we receive from pilots is why their local gas station can no longer supply them with ethanol-free autogas, an FAA-approved lead-free aviation fuel since 1982. Readers of this blog know the answers to this question, but there remain many who believe that gas stations are forbidden from selling anything […]
UAT-ARC: No drop-in replacement for 100LL
The FAA’s Unleaded Avgas Transition Aviation Rulemaking Committee (UAT-ARC), a group made up of aviation and oil industry representatives that is searching for an unleaded replacement for 100LL, met again this past December. Thanks to Lee Buechler of the Clean 100 Octane Coalition, minutes from this meeting are now available online. Two excerpts from these […]
The Valve Seat Recession Conundrum
In a recent blog posted on General Aviation News by Ben Visser, he made a point that poses a serious conundrum for the conversion to unleaded avgas: “The big problem here is that almost all of the aircraft piston engines out there need to be broken-in on 100LL, then they can be switched over to […]
We’ve hit the ethanol blending wall, government reports
As forecast by your bloggers for the past year, it looked likely that the mandated production of ethanol in the US would exceed consumption sometime this winter. According to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Agency, it appears that this situation, known as “the blending wall” actually occurred this past summer! The report […]