Despite the recent rise in prices for aviation fuel and what we consumers pay at the gas station, news contained in this recent RIGZONE article paints a sunny picture for increased U.S. reserves and ultimately lower prices. When we might see lower fuel prices at our airports is anyone’s guess, however the clear trend towards […]
GAfuels
We’ve hit the wall
Exactly as your bloggers have predicted the past several years, according to industry experts, we’ve finally hit the ethanol blending wall — even if every drop of gasoline produced in the U.S. contained 10% ethanol, the federally-mandated blending quotas cannot be met. As the energy industry’s leading news service Platts reported this past week: “The […]
Pilot saves $1,500 annually with mogas
Last June, Cessna 150 owner Mark “Prigs” Priglmeier, president of EAA Chapter 551 in St. Cloud, Minn., estimated that he’d save around $800 annually using mogas. He just sent us the following description of the actual savings from 2012, which were nearly twice his original estimate: “For the year ending 2012, I burned a total […]
SBO adds mogas
Pilots in east-central Georgia have reason to fly more in 2013 since the East Georgia Regional Airport (SBO) in Swainsboro added mogas recently. Contrary to claims from Michael France, director of regulatory affairs for the corporate FBO lobby NATA, that “fuel suppliers believe the market does not support the costs associated with making mogas or […]
Florida ethanol repeal bill moves forward
From GAfuels reader Drew Hatch of Ft. Walton Beach we learned that HB4001, a bill sponsored by Florida State Representative Matt Gaetz to repeal the state’s ethanol mandates, is moving towards a full debate. According to his comments that appeared this week in an article in CapitalSoup.com, “HB4001 has officially cleared the House Energy and […]
Consequences and public funding
While reading “Inclined to Liberty” by Louis E. Carabini, it struck me that chapter 29, The Hazard of Equalizing Consequences, describes what one often sees at publicly-funded general aviation airports in my home state of North Carolina. Taj Mahal-like, LEED-certififed terminals bristling with solar panels at rural airstrips where more coyotes walk the ramp than […]
Sunset for avgas?
In recent months your bloggers have been contacted by a number of environmental reporters on the issue of leaded aviation fuel, for instance Sarah Zhang of Mother Jones, mentioned in this Jan. 28 posting. More recently, Rebecca Kessler, a science and environmental journalist based in Providence, R.I., published an article titled “Sunset for Leaded Aviation […]
Innospec news — a shot across the bow?
Early last week my inbox starting filling with breathless news that Innospec, the world’s last producer of Tetraethyllead (TEL), the amazing chemical compound that gives avgas such excellent anti-detonant properties, is planning to end production in 2013. Worse yet, according to an online article in Specialty Chemical News, the company had actually planned to stop […]
Maine seeks ethanol reprieve
We recently learned of a renewed effort by the Maine State Legislature to reduce or eliminate altogether the blending of ethanol in gasoline. As described in this article in the Maine Sun Journal, “A pair of bills introduced Thursday by state Rep. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, could have a significant impact on what goes into the […]