Consensus Report: Options for Reducing Lead Emissions from Piston-Engine Aircraft
At least one-third of the gasoline-powered aircraft fleet has high-compression piston engines, which require high-octane avgas with lead additives for safe operation. Lead is a highly toxic substance that can result in many negative health effects. This article highlights a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine looking at options for mitigating and reducing lead from aviation. Committee recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) include: (1) FAA should update its guidance on the location of run-up areas to reflect the results of recent research, including the need to account for both the emissions of engine run-ups and takeoffs when analyzing the geographic distribution of lead emissions at the airport; (2) FAA should research public policy options for motivating refiners to produce and airports to supply 100VLL; (3) FAA should research public policy options that will enable and encourage greater use of available unleaded avgas; (4) FAA should continue to collaborate with the general aviation (GA) industry, aircraft users, airports, and fuel suppliers to search for and deploy an acceptable and universally usable unleaded replacement fuel; and (5) a clear goal should be established that, after a certain point, all newly certified and newly produced gasoline-powered aircraft can operate with at least one unleaded fuel.
- Record URL:
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Availability:
- Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/07386826
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Authors:
- Menzies, Tom
- Wassel, Ray
- Publication Date: 2021-5
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Photos;
- Pagination: pp 51-52
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Serial:
- TR News
- Issue Number: 333
- Publisher: Transportation Research Board
- ISSN: 0738-6826
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Aircraft; Airports; Aviation fuels; Lead (Metal); Piston engines; Public policy; Recommendations; Unleaded gasoline
- Identifier Terms: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
- Subject Areas: Aviation; Energy; Environment; Policy; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01776665
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Jul 19 2021 9:40AM