When was unleaded gasoline introduced in California?
score:14
First, to be clear, lead is an additive and doesn't occur naturally in gasoline. It was in 1921 that General Motors discovered that adding lead (in the form of lead tetraethyl or TEL) to gasoline is a cheap way to increase octane and prevent engine knocking. So it would have been possible before that.
Soon after, in 1925 and 1926, there was a temporary ban at the federal level lasting about a year. After that, adding lead was the standard practice. Federal restrictions on lead in gasoline were phased in gradually, starting in 1974 and completed by 1986. A key factor in moving away from lead was the introduction of catalytic converters, which would quickly be destroyed by leaded gasoline.
Most of this is described in detail in "The Secret History of Lead", an article published by The Nation in 2000. So far I have found no evidence that lead-free gasoline was commercially available in California or any other state between May 1926 and 1974.
EDIT: The article "The Rise and Fall of Organometallic Additives in Automotive Gasoline" tracks the unleaded offerings of American gasoline companies in detail. Although the following quotes would seem to contradict, they imply that some unleaded gasoline was always available, typically as a "premium" product: Sun and/or Amoco.
In 1936, Ethyl reported that 72% of US gasoline was leaded (Anonymous, 1936a); by 1940, this reached 88% and TEL was blended into all but one major brand (Anonymous, 1940b). Sun, the sole brand, used catalytic cracking (then known as the Houdry Process) to produce a high-octane unleaded grade (then dyed blue). Sun did not offer a leaded grade until 1950 (Johnson, 1983).
and
Indiana Standard had always offered a high-octane unleaded grade. This unleaded grade (known as Amoco-Gas and later Amoco Super Premium) was originally produced by the American Oil Company, who became affiliated with Indiana Standard in 1922 (Dedmon, 1984).
Otherwise, most major producers began offering an unleaded product in 1970 or shortly after.
Upvote:1
Around 1970 is when I first saw the low lead and unleaded gasolines go on sale.
This was pursuant to the Clean Air Act, which instituted and ramped up over time, restrictions on auto emissions. TEL would ruin catalytic converters that were due to be mandated by 1974, so the gasoline industry began ramping up production and distribution ahead of time.
Note in this wiki that while TEL production has almost ceased in the US and Europe, it is being produced in China for local fuel sales.
Upvote:3
I drove from my home town of Quincy, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri occasionally in 1962 after beginning work at the Chevrolet Division of General Motors there. I recall a Shell Oil gasoline station along the route that advertised either "Low Lead" or No Lead" or "Lead Free" gasoline. I recall at the time thinking and discussing with friends why anyone would buy such gasoline as it was sold at a higher price than gasoline with lead additives. I owned a Mobil Oil gasoline station in Royal Oak, Michigan the last 6 months of 1969 and sold gasoline with lead as regular for $0.32.9 and premium for $0.36.9 a gallon. By the end of 1969, I was selling regular for $0.19.9 and premium for $0.23.9 a gallon. The newest thing on the market at that time addressing the environment was the requirement for all cars to include positive crankcase ventilation (PCV).
More post
- 📝 What Calendar was used in Carthage?
- 📝 How popular, or not, was the Mexican Goverment in the Cristero War (1927 - 1929)?
- 📝 In the Middle Ages, adultery was strictly condemned by the Church. How did Kings justify their extra-marital affairs?
- 📝 Were Moses & Abraham historical figures?
- 📝 Prisons in 1800s in Russian Far East
- 📝 (Why) did the PRC not [ever] recognize the incorporation of the Baltic states into the USSR?
- 📝 What did the Allied WW1 propaganda for the Germans say?
- 📝 What was the city of El Mirador called in Mayan?
- 📝 Korean DMZ Soldiers
- 📝 How were Aksumite ships constructed?
- 📝 Did Charlemagne ever visit Constantinople?
- 📝 Did specific countries have special influence in the founding of the UN?
- 📝 Price of a shot and a bottle of whiskey in 1870s American West
- 📝 Was there a particular area of Victorian London in which bookshops were concentrated?
- 📝 Are there any reasonable sources of data on numbers of religious adherents, for different religions, throughout history?
- 📝 Why would Jesus' parents travel to their birthplace for a Roman census?
- 📝 Will we ever be able to understand history with 100% accuracy
- 📝 Why did the US have a plan for the event of war against Britain in the 1920s?
- 📝 What was the value of the spice trade during the age of exploration?
- 📝 Were there Old English speaking enclaves within the Danelaw?
- 📝 what was the world population around 1880?
- 📝 Did America ignore British patents during Industrialization
- 📝 Why is Toledo not the capital of Spain anymore?
- 📝 How did the gold of the new world cause the Spanish Empire to collapse?
- 📝 Can you help me identify the rank and patch on this Royal Italian Army uniform?
- 📝 Were covered wagons used on the Federal Road in North GA in the early 1830's?
- 📝 Did a letter of marque give actual protection in the middle ages?
- 📝 Need help interpreting "silver" hallmark - 1706?
- 📝 M-1 rifle ammo and grenade invasion ration
- 📝 Why was the bald eagle chosen as the national bird of the United States?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 When was unleaded gasoline introduced in California?
- 📝 When was the concept of "weekly day off" first introduced in Indian Subcontinent?
- 📝 When was the electric iron introduced to the state of Georgia?
- 📝 When was the potato introduced to Mexico?
- 📝 When was the property tax introduced in early Mexico? Who paid?
- 📝 When was the last name introduced in World History?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 Did it take 3 minutes to reload a musket when the second amendment to the US constitution was ratified?
- 📝 Why was it "acceptable" for Prince Charles to marry a divorced woman, when Edward VIII had to abdicate for marrying divorcee Wallis Simpson?
- 📝 Was Hitler exclaiming "Heil Hitler!" himself when saluting?
- 📝 When did FDR announce he was running a 3rd time, and was there any outrage?
- 📝 Where did Hitler get the funds to invest in economic development programs such as the autobahn when the German economy was in a depression?
- 📝 When was drinking water recognized as crucial in marathon running?
- 📝 How and when was the modern company ownership structure invented?
- 📝 When was Silver ever more valuable than Gold?
- 📝 When the Portuguese began the exploration of the West African Coast, did they believe the Indian Ocean was an enclosed sea?
- 📝 Until when was Marseille Greek-speaking?
- 📝 When was this photo of Mission Dolores *actually* taken?
- 📝 When was the last time a reigning monarch personally participated in battle?
- 📝 How could Jews integrate into Western modern society back when Saturday was a normal working day?
- 📝 Was the Dutch State independent when the Dutch East India Company was founded?
- 📝 How likely is it that any non-Celtic language was spoken in the British Isles when the Romans invaded?
- 📝 When and why was the samurai class abolished?
- 📝 What / When was the first use of concentration camps in history?
- 📝 How were diplomats and their staffs treated when World War II was declared?
- 📝 When and where was salt as valuable as gold?
- 📝 When was the last documented occasion that Arab or Ottoman slave traders abducted people from Europe?
- 📝 What was lost when the British burned the White House in 1814?
- 📝 Why didn't cheese spoil when it was given as rations to soldiers?