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 recent endangerment finding on leaded avgas officially triggers the general aviation industry's formal, committed transition to unleaded aviation fuel, particularly for high-octane piston engines, under the Clean Air Act.
Several unleaded fuel candidates are in various stages of development and approval, including GAMI's G100UL which has FAA supplemental type certification, and other fuels from Swift, Afton Chemical/Phillips 66, and Lyondell/VP Racing pursuing industry consensus standards (ASTM).
While the industry is working towards fielding solutions within a couple of years, new unleaded fuels are generally not designed to intermix with each other, and market factors, including price, will ultimately determine widespread adoption.

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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.