I don't know how many refineries there are, or even how important that number is. It's small, we can all agree, I hope.

Once lead is removed, I suspect you will have MORE refineries wanting to sell a relatively high profit margin, boutique fuel that doesn't cause EPA concerns / shipping / storage problems.



Well, I think that you're adding drama to a straight forward process.

First, the 94UL doesn't obsolete anything. In a mostly unmodified engine, there would likely be a decrease in engine horsepower, through a VERY simple process of reducing manifold pressure. Maybe ignition gets retarded a degree or three. Don't know. But the sky won't fall, sorry. They already have low compression pistons because of turbocharging. Obviously, the more difficult issue would be compensating for the "higher" compression ratio engines, which are not pressurized cabin twin Cessnas.

Second, there are alternatives to Tetra Ethyl Lead (TEL). I think the GAMI folks are using a base stock petroleum fuel that is probably (if I were betting man) 94UL. Why reinvent the wheel? Then, maybe throw in a few non-TEL like one of the following????

Alternative antiknock agents

Antiknock agents are grouped into "high-percentage" additives, such as alcohol, and "low-percentage" additives based on heavy elements. Since the main problem with TEL is its lead content, many alternative additives that contain less poisonous metals have been examined. A manganese-carrying additive, methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT or methylcymantrene), is used as an antiknock agent in Canada[citation needed], but its use as a fuel additive had been banned in the U.S. until 1995. Ferrocene, an organometallic compound of iron, has also been reported as an effective antiknock agent.
Lead replacement additives were scientifically tested, and some were approved by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs, at the UK's Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) in 1999.[14]
High-percentage additives are organic compounds that do not contain metals, but they require much higher blending ratios, such as 20–30% for benzene and ethanol. It had also been established by 1921 that ethanol was an effective antiknock agent, but TEL was introduced for mainly commercial reasons to replace it.[7] Oxygenates, mainly methanol-derived MTBE and ethanol-derived ETBE, have largely substituted the need for TEL. MTBE has environmental risks of its own and there are also bans on its use. ETBE, on the other hand, requires more expensive ethanol as a starting material.
Improvements of the gasoline itself decrease the need for separate antiknock agents. Synthetic iso-octane and alkylate are examples of such blending stocks. Benzene and other high-octane aromatics can be also blended to raise the octane number, but they are disfavored today because of toxicity and carcinogenity.