GAfuels

These two articles document new concerns about ethanol production and its impact on our environment. Corn Ethanol Climate Positive … in 100 Years A Possible Negative Impact of Ethanol Production on Water Quality The GAfuels Blog is written by three private pilots concerned about the future availability of fuels for piston-engine aircraft. They are: Dean […]

By DEAN BILLING Washington State pilots should be aware of a bill in the Washington legislature that will have a detrimental effect on the availability of the rapidly disappearing ethanol-free unleaded auto fuel. The bill is ostensibly a bio-diesel bill.  It is HB-2405, you can read it here. Buried in the bill are two sections […]

Here is a thought experiment about the future of avgas.  The conclusion is fairly obvious if you do the numbers: The US consumed somewhere around 135 billion gallons of auto fuel in 2009.  The last annual figures I have are for 2008 at about 138 billion and declining. General aviation consumes less than 300 million […]

As reported by the New York Times, despite widespread opposition and scant results from ongoing testing of vehicles burning E15, the EPA is already predicting it will approve lifting the current limit of ethanol in vehicle fuels from 10% to 15% by the end of 2010. Admitting that vehicles built before 2001 would need to […]

In an article appearing recently in the Raleigh News & Observer, the EPA has stated that more testing is needed before E15 can be used in automobiles. This article also comments on the fuel’s use in other vehicles, however does not mention aircraft.  From our perspective, the EPA makes light of hundreds of strong, well-founded […]

21st Century science should be good science, but it isn’t.  Climategate scientists prove that money talks. This opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal documents how man-made global-warming theorists have been manipulating data in their efforts to maintain funding of pet projects.  Given that such theories provide a fundamental justification for the pursuit of “renewable” […]

Marathon Oil Co. is marketing a 90 octane unleaded non-ethanol gasoline as a recreational fuel for boats.  We believe this fuel to be perfectly suited for use with 87 octane auto fuel STCs.  In some locations it is one octane point higher, 91 octane.  91 octane is suitable for use with all auto fuel STCs. […]

The EAA recently published an article in its online “Light Plane World” reviewing the various aspects of operating small aircraft engines when ethanol might be present in Mogas. Building on past work by your bloggers and others, the article does a good job of providing ample warning of the various problems that can occur when […]

Thanks to Cal Hoffman of the Barnwell Regional Airport (BNL) in Barnwell, S.C., for informing us that the airport has a supply of 93 octane (AKI), ethanol-free, lead-free Mogas on the field. He does not expect any disruptions to the supply in the near future, and suggests that the strong demand for ethanol-free fuel from […]