Time to Get Serious About Unleaded Fuel

The EAGLE consortium needs to soar to the challenge now that the FAA and industry must move forward on its roadmap.

Julie Boatman

Thursday, October 26, 2023 at 02:58 PM ET

Verified

Candidate fuels are in various stages of progress, with at least one STC already approved. [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

The EPA's anticipated endangerment finding on leaded avgas has officially triggered the process under the Clean Air Act, mandating a transition to unleaded fuels, a move welcomed by the general aviation industry.
The general aviation industry is deeply committed to this transition, with a timeline of a couple of years for mandates and guidance, while actively working on developing and approving new unleaded fuel solutions.
Several candidate unleaded fuels are in various stages of development and approval, including GAMI's G100UL (with FAA STC but not ASTM spec) and Swift Fuels' 100UL (pursuing both STC and ASTM approval), as well as others from the PAFI program.
New unleaded fuels are generally not designed to intermix with each other, and while the industry seeks multiple viable options, the market will ultimately decide which solutions succeed, with consumer price being a significant factor.

See a mistake? Contact us.

The general aviation industry expected last week’s release from the Environmental Protection Agency of the endangerment finding on leaded avgas. Thanks to a number of factors—including recent codification of leaded fuel reduction plans under the EAGLE (Eliminate Aviation Gas Lead Emissions) coalition—it feels like the finding was welcomed rather than feared.

Because of the way the U.S. government operates, particularly under the Clean Air Act of 1970, certain processes within the associated agencies, including the FAA, could not begin without the finding.