Fuel News

British Airways is among the investors in a $200 million plant that will make sustainable aviation fuel from ethanol derived from corn. The plant officially opened in rural Georgia last week and will produce about 10 million gallons of jet fuel and diesel. As electric cars and trucks displace gasoline-powered vehicles there will be massive […]

The City of Long Beach, California, is offering to pay piston aircraft operators to switch to unleaded fuel. Last week the city council of the Los Angeles suburb voted to have the city cover the $2-$4 per gallon difference between Swift Fuels and 100LL. In November, the city council voted to cover the cost of […]

Phillips 66 has “paused” evaluation of its unleaded avgas alternative after what sources have told AVweb was a major test failure. Phillips 66 confirmed to AVweb that evaluation of the fuel it is developing with Afton Chemicals through the Piston Engine Aviation Fuels Initiative has been suspended, at least temporarily. “We can confirm that PAFI […]

Santa Clara County officials are pushing back against proposed legislation in the FAA reauthorization bills that would require them to reintroduce leaded aviation fuel.  Calling it a “step backwards” for Santa Clara County airports, Local News Matters reported local officials are actively opposing two bills in the House and Senate. The Senate bill mandates airports to continue offering […]

The city council of Livermore, California, has approved a resolution that would require the FBO at the city-owned airport to provide unleaded fuel within 24 months. According to a story in local online news outlet Pleasanton Weekly, the resolution amends the airport’s “minimum standards for commercial aeronautical activities” with the new requirement to make unleaded […]

Reuters has reported that the U.S. Treasury will release guidance by the end of this week on the issue of subsidies for using corn-based ethanol for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Producers of corn-based ethanol fuel see aviation applications as one of the few pathways for growing their industry with the expanding of electric vehicles stemming […]

A report published yesterday (Dec. 12) by Alaska Public Media notes that the state’s legislators are pushing back on the recent EPA endangerment finding on leaded aviation gasoline. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan have filed a resolution to reverse the EPA finding. Murkowski said, “This EPA decision could have a deeply negative impact on […]

After an extensive trial, the University of North Dakota’s flight school has dropped Swift UL94 fuel and resumed use of 100LL. The school said ongoing maintenance monitoring of aircraft using UL94—almost exclusively Lycoming-powered Piper Archers and Seminoles—resulted in measurable exhaust valve recession. The school made the switch back to 100LL on Oct. 27. Partly because […]

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) posted in its Oct. 31 newsletter that President and CEO Curt Castagna, who is also president and CEO of Aeroplex Group Partners, has taken over co-chair duties at the industry-government Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) initiative. He replaces Mark Baker, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. […]

The EPA is expected to formally issue an endangerment finding on leaded aviation fuel as early as Wednesday. In response, the Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) initiative will be briefing the aviation media Wednesday on what life might be like in the wake of the finding. An endangerment finding gets the ball rolling on […]