Clear Gas offers unleaded avgas to California airports

With the clock ticking down on an impending lawsuit aimed at producers and sellers of leaded avgas in California, a new company now offers an unleaded fuel that was approved by the FAA in 1982 and has been in widespread use around the world since then. Clear Gas, LLC, formed in May, 2011 by a group of pilots in the Merced area, will deliver lead-free, ethanol-free autogas to airports, marinas, race tracks and all off-road appplications in California in amounts as small as 500 gallons.

Since it is known that 70%-80% of the current piston-engine aircraft fleet may operate on autogas, the potential for a significant reduction in lead emissions now caused by General Aviation aircraft is great.  An added benefit to pilots is the fact that autogas costs, on average, $1 less than leaded avgas. Maintenance problems caused by lead deposits on engines never designed for the high levels of lead found in 100LL are also eliminated using autogas supplied by Clear Gas. FBOs too should welcome this news, since the margins on sales of autogas and leaded avgas are similar. Lower fuel prices generally result in pilots flying more, leading to greater revenue for airports and overall better health of aviation. Airports willing to sell Clear Gas products to the millions of consumers searching for ethanol-free fuel for their boats, power tools, lawn equipment, etc. stand to gain an important new source of income and attract new people to flying.

Every opportunity has been exhausted by Clear Gas to provide autogas at the lowest possible wholesale price, independent of volume.  The company has devised two programs aimed at making fuel available in even the smallest markets, a Reservation Program, and a Staged Delivery Program.

Reservation Program: This program put the purchasing power of volume in the hands of the wholesale buyer. Clear Gas publishes on its website the unreserved capacity (in gallons) on its next truckload. When this reaches 75% of maximum capacity, a truck is dispatched to make deliveries. This is an extremely useful tool for the wholesaler, since it allows one to strategize purchases depending on the volume that other wholesalers currently have on reserve. A prudent wholesaler can thus eliminate special delivery charges associated with deliveries made on short notice.

Adam De Bard, founder and General Manager of Clear Gas, explains: "The benefits to our staged delivery program are related to the volume of orders and not the price. For instance, a small airport can purchase 1,000 gallons on a truck making deliveries within the next 4 days because he can see that his volume, combined with everyone  else's,  is enough to dispatch the truck. This contrasts with the usual problem of having to wait for weeks or make a minimum purchase of 4,000 gallons to get a truck dispatched. When airports and others work together in this manner, our costs at Clear Gas are reduced, allowing us to offer the same pricing to small and large sellers alike."

Staged Delivery Program: Clear Gas believes that part of its success will be in staging smaller deliveries, (less than 1,500 gallons) between larger ones on a given day. This allows the company to spread transportation expenses across all deliveries, eliminating the need to assess a delivery surcharge on all buyers. In cases where smaller deliveries can’t be staged in this manner; a modest $1.00 per mile surcharge will be added.

The Founders of Clear Gas are:

They were assisted in the formation of the company by the Aviation Fuel Club, a free, grassroots organization founded in January, 2011 to assist pilots and airports find affordable fuel solutions. The fuel sold by Clear Gas is approved for sale under the Sport Fuel (c) brand from Wisconsin-based fuel equipment manufacturer U-Fuel, who sponsors the Aviation Fuel Club.

Contacts: