Jet-A and 100 LL (low-lead) avgas have been flowing from Wittman Regional Airport’s fuel farms for decades. But it seems that military and civilian jets are making a growing number of newsworthy flights on biojet fuel. And in the piston world, the primary concern is the replacement of 100LL with 100 No-Lead.

When these fuels will be consumer-ready at airports nationwide is unknown, but it won’t be long. Earlier this year, at the Paris Air Show, US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said,“I think we’re nearing a tipping point” in terms of building momentum toward use of biofuel on commercial flights, he said. “I think [biofuel powering airline flights is] not long-term. In the short term you’ll see the benefits.”

For airports, the important question will be, however, how will the introduction of new fuels affect the fuel farm, the bulk storage area where the FBOs’ trucks refill their tanks? With both fuels still in test and validation stages, we’ve been unable to find any newly proposed handling requirements, so we’ll peer into the crystal ball of logic.

Many of the jet flights have been made on a blended mixture of bio and petroleum-based fuel. This suggests that both fuels have like storage and handling requirements, so the transition from one to the other may not require new equipment or facilities.

Things don’t look so bright for avgas, primarily because of the ingredient that led to the new fuel’s requirement—lead. Storing and/or distributing no-lead avgas in anything once used for 100LL offers the chance of contaminating the new fuel with the substance the EPA is trying to get rid of. Right now there is no hard date for the avgas change, but forewarned is well prepared, and we’ll keep an eye on its development.