You may have heard talk around your airport about what’s going to happen to avgas—an issue that seems pretty distant and arcane if you’re trying to master stalls or plan your long cross-country. But the future of avgas will affect how we fly, so it’s worth knowing a little bit about. If you read nothing else on the subject, know that I believe:
Supplies of 100LL will remain readily available;
The GA community is aligned in the search for a fuel without lead;
We have embarked on a process that will take a number of years, but must and will lead us to an alternative fuel formulation.
The GA community has not chosen to support a specific solution, and won’t until we know more about all the possible options. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes on this issue, but don’t expect to see any immediate changes. In fact, this issue has been building for a long time, and in the past 20 years researchers have investigated more than 200 potential fuel formulations. But coming up with an effective, affordable, safe alternative has been no walk in the park.
To find the best possible answers, we need a way to research potential solutions, resolve the unknowns, and better understand how each potential solution will affect production, distribution, the environment, aircraft performance and safety, and the economics of aviation. Only when we have those answers will we be in a position to make good decisions about potential changes to our fuel supply. The ultimate solution must be a fuel that we can rely on for decades to come, just as we have long relied on avgas.
To help find that way forward, aviation and petroleum industry groups have banded together as part of an organization called the General Aviation Avgas Coalition. In addition to AOPA, the members include EAA, GAMA, NATA, and NBAA, as well as the American Petroleum Institute and the National Petrochemical Refiners Association.
Together, we will evaluate the available research to find the best possible solution. In the coming months, we will continue to visit key players in this issue, including suppliers, aircraft and engine manufacturers, and companies that are developing potential solutions. And we have asked the FAA to take a leadership role and form a working group that will help manage the many safety, technical, logistical, and economic issues.
Recent action by the EPA has made the effort to find an alternative to leaded fuel more urgent than ever. An advance notice of proposed rulemaking sets out the agency’s intent to investigate leaded fuel used in general aviation. This action is intended to provide the EPA with enough information to move to the next step—proposing regulation to reduce lead emissions and implement a transition process.
Together with our partners in government, science, and industry, I do believe we can find a workable solution. And, rest assured, AOPA will make certain everyone concerned takes the needs of the entire general aviation community into account at every step along the way.
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