March-April_2022 - 37

SPECIAL FEATURE
EAGLE Stakeholders Seek
Solution to Leaded Fuel
The Eliminate Aviation Gasoline Lead Emissions (EAGLE) initiative
explores the challenges and needs of removing lead from general
aviation fuel.
by Walker Jaroch
T
he first stakeholder meeting
of the Eliminate Aviation
Gasoline Lead Emissions
(EAGLE) initiative was held
in March. The two-day event
was attended by fuel refiners,
distributors, engine
OEMs, airplane manufactures and
others.
The EAGLE initiative was announced in
February with the goal of making general
aviation (GA) lead-free by 2030, finding a
replacement for 100 low lead (100LL) fuel,
with four guiding pillars behind it. EAGLE is
a continuation of the Piston Aviation Fuels
Initiative (PAFI) program, which it is not
replacing, but utilizing lessons learned and
bringing in multi-industry stakeholders to
solve the leaded fuel issue.
" The PAFI program is a key pillar to the
success of this replacement of 100LL. One
of things we highlighted in the meetings
today and yesterday was the fact that there
are so many other things that are effected
other than just what is being done in the
PAFI program, " explained Earl Lawrence,
executive director of the FAA's aircraft certification
service.
Spurring the EAGLE initiative and its
multi-industry approach is the anticipated
" endangerment finding " by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
on lead.
The EPA announced Jan. 12 that it will
evaluate whether emissions from piston
engine aircraft operating on leaded fuel
contribute to air pollution that endangers
public health and welfare. The agency plans
to issue a proposal for public review and
comment in 2022 and take final action in
2023.
Once this endangerment finding is
issued, one of the fears is it could lead to
the closing of airports.
" When the EPA comes out with a finding,
which we believe they will in the not too
distant future, that says 'no amount of lead
is safe' ... that is a real issue and they are
right, we should move on. Some airports,
notably in California, seem to be using this
as an urgency to close airports, " said AOPA
President and CEO Mark Baker.
With no drop-in substitute currently
available, and unlikely to be available by
the time that the EPA finding is issued, the
EAGLE initiative is a signal that the industry
is working to solve the issue and airports
don't need to be closed in the meantime.
" We have to have a safe way to maneuver
these aircraft and we need that [100LL] fuel
to support them. That's why we can't just
stop selling them today, " Baker continued.
Baker pointed out there are numerous
issues both in the aviation industry and
outside of it compounding the problem of
finding a replacement. Unlike when lead
was removed from automotive gasoline, the
engines of aircraft are fundamentally different,
operating at fluctuating temperatures
and altitudes, and require many different
considerations - facilitating the need for a
drop-in replacement.
" Why have we not gone unleaded so far?
One of the big reasons is we have not found
a, what we call, 'drop-in replacement.' And
... there's drop-in from a regulatory point
and hardware standpoint and those two
things have to go together, " said Lawrence.
The standards that have been used for
decades for piston engines specifically
required lead. The engines are designed
to operate with lead and have to have a
minimum amount of lead in the fuel to
meet those specifications.
" So going to zero, from a legal standpoint,
there's not a direct replacement. So now,
we have to do the studies that say, 'Okay,
legally it's not a direct replacement, but will
the engine run, will the airframe handle it,
will the systems handle it?' We learned a
lot from PAFI and identified the things we
need to be looking for when we make that
transition, " Lawrence said.
For example, Lawrence noted that vibration
levels in an aircraft's propeller are
affected by fuel and the longevity of a propeller
can change because of a fuel change.
" There are five candidates to replace
100LL, but they are not direct replacements.
That's our big challenge. When it's not a
direct replacement, how do replace it and
what does it mean to not be a direct replacement
because it's a different answer for
every candidate fuel, " continued Lawrence.
As work continues towards the goal of a
lead-free replacement for 100LL, another
EAGLE stakeholder meeting is being planned
for a date in the upcoming months.
www.AviationPros.com 37
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