Nine Proposals Received for Unleaded General Aviation Gas
The Federal Aviation Administration hopes to work with industry to produce a new unleaded fuel by 2018.
The Federal Aviation Administration recently announced it has received nine fuel proposals from producers Afton Chemical Company, Avgas LLC, Shell, Swift Fuels, and a consortium of BP, TOTAL, and Hjelmco for further evaluation in the Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative, an industry/government initiative designed to help the general aviation industry transition to unleaded aviation gasoline. By Sept. 1, FAA will select several of the fuels for phase-one laboratory and rig testing. The goal is to have a new unleaded fuel by 2018.
"We're committed to getting harmful lead out of general aviation fuel," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. "This work will benefit the environment and provide a safe and available fuel for our general aviation community."
According to FAA, about 167,000 general aviation aircraft in the United States rely on 100 low lead aviation gasoline for safe operation. It is the only remaining transportation fuel in the United States that contains the addition of lead to create the very high octane levels needed for high-performance aircraft; most commercial airplanes do not use leaded gas.
Congress authorized $6 million for fiscal year 2014 to support the PAFI test program at the FAA Technical Center.
For more information, visit http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/avgas/.