G100 engine approval list

I am sure that you all have heard the good news from last month. In case you haven’t, G100 has been certified via STC for all airframe and engine combinations. That means that it is just a matter of time before unleaded fuel will be available more places if not all airports. Great news for everyone as eventually the costs should come down as this fuel should be available to be transported in all methods so the cost should eventually come down to less than 100LL.

I hope you are about the price of fuel coming down. However, my understanding is the all the tanker trucks that have been carrying leaded fuel will need to be replaced with new tankers. The lead deposits had coated the inside of the tanks and will contaminate the new unleaded fuel. Hope I misunderstood the conversation.

...which means it can be carried in any unleaded tanker truck. As for the fuel trucks used at the airports, its completely mixable with 100LL (and mogas from what I understand), so any lead contamination in the truck would not require truck replacement. Transportation cost of 100LL is already high because it can't go in pipelines, can only be in dedicated tankers and barges.

Posted by: @mepylyaol-com

I hope you are about the price of fuel coming down. However, my understanding is the all the tanker trucks that have been carrying leaded fuel will need to be replaced with new tankers. The lead deposits had coated the inside of the tanks and will contaminate the new unleaded fuel. Hope I misunderstood the conversation.

I think it's safe to assume there is some way of washing out the tanks.

That makes sense and I hope they can do it.  The other part of the conversation was that you just can't fill up a 100ll fuel storage  tank when its empty. A new tank has to be installed.  They start around $300,000. Hope I am wrong on that one!

@mepylyaol-com 

I don’t know the answer to your query but I have a few thoughts. As G100 is fully compatible with 100LL and the amount of lead in the tanks will be minimal when empty, as well as getting further diluted/removed with every new fill up, I don’t know if new tanks will be required by the FAA. Now, if the EPA declares that there can be no lead in the fuel of any amount, then there will be three choices. Option one, there are companies that can clean out a fuel tank of all the lead. I don’t imagine it is inexpensive, but I bet it is cheaper than purchasing a new tank and having it installed. Option two is to replace the tank. Option three is to close off the old tank and just install a new one.

Will G100 be cheaper than 100LL or 94UL? Not right away. It will take a while for whoever decided to manufacture it to get enough quantity to get a cost savings. Especially as they figure out transportation. As long as they can send it through the common pipelines, I imagine in a couple of years (assuming the economy does’t implode) that it will be equal to 100LL if not below. It will all depend on demand.

We have 94UL at my airport after having MOGAS for years. Shipping is expensive so it is considerably more expensive than 100LL. Surprisingly to me, it has been very popular and it has been selling very well. Many people are starting to realize that it is lessening their maintenance costs, especially for low compression engines, which may stimulate demand for the product. High demand for unleaded fuel (in this case G100) will hopefully stimulate production and bring the costs down. I can’t tell you how soon that could happen.

Now do any of my opinions hold any resemblance to reality? Only time will tell.

The conversation, I had, was with the owner of one of our  local airports.  He stated he will have to deal with these two issues when it's time to sell unleaded fuel. The purpose of my post was to show that this is one of many issues that needs to be addressed concerning distribution. Something I never thought about. Just wanted to share. That's all!