The EPA has finally announced the 2010 RFS standard, albeit several months late. While there is no change in the ethanol mandate increase — the gasoline industry must blend more than 12 billion gallons of ethanol in 2010, up from 10.5 billion gallons in 2009 — the real surprise is that the EPA is not […]
Hanshew and Visser columns on fuels breath of fresh air
The articles recently posted from Steve Bill Hanshew (Passing gas) and Ben Visser (The demise of 100LL is no surprise) were a breath of fresh air, devoid of the usual P.C. claptrap surrounding most environmental debate these days. We, the co-authors of the online GaFuels blog, would like to add a few points to this […]
New concerns about ethanol production
These two articles document new concerns about ethanol production and its impact on our environment. Corn Ethanol Climate Positive … in 100 Years A Possible Negative Impact of Ethanol Production on Water Quality The GAfuels Blog is written by three private pilots concerned about the future availability of fuels for piston-engine aircraft. They are: Dean […]
Washington State bill may accelerate end of Mogas
By DEAN BILLING Washington State pilots should be aware of a bill in the Washington legislature that will have a detrimental effect on the availability of the rapidly disappearing ethanol-free unleaded auto fuel. The bill is ostensibly a bio-diesel bill. It is HB-2405, you can read it here. Buried in the bill are two sections […]
RIP: Will 94 UL be DOA?
Here is a thought experiment about the future of avgas. The conclusion is fairly obvious if you do the numbers: The US consumed somewhere around 135 billion gallons of auto fuel in 2009. The last annual figures I have are for 2008 at about 138 billion and declining. General aviation consumes less than 300 million […]
An aviator’s guide to Sebring
The sixth annual U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, kicks off next month. Known as the Sebring LSA Expo, the event focuses on tire-kicking and demo flights of Light Sport Aircraft, ultralights, trikes and powered parachutes. The Expo is quickly becoming a favorite destination in balmy Florida at a time of the year when […]
EPA predicts E15 approval in 2010 despite widespread opposition
As reported by the New York Times, despite widespread opposition and scant results from ongoing testing of vehicles burning E15, the EPA is already predicting it will approve lifting the current limit of ethanol in vehicle fuels from 10% to 15% by the end of 2010. Admitting that vehicles built before 2001 would need to […]
E15 still not ready for prime-time, EPA says
In an article appearing recently in the Raleigh News & Observer, the EPA has stated that more testing is needed before E15 can be used in automobiles. This article also comments on the fuel’s use in other vehicles, however does not mention aircraft. From our perspective, the EPA makes light of hundreds of strong, well-founded […]
Climategate scandal widens
21st Century science should be good science, but it isn’t. Climategate scientists prove that money talks. This opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal documents how man-made global-warming theorists have been manipulating data in their efforts to maintain funding of pet projects. Given that such theories provide a fundamental justification for the pursuit of “renewable” […]