Plain-English answers about natural gas, CNG, virtual pipelines, and getting power to places that don't have it
New to natural gas? You're in the right place. Start here.
Every week we talk to people who were just handed a project — power a new site, fuel an operation, keep gas flowing during a repair — and told to figure out natural gas. If that's you, this page answers the questions everyone asks first, without the jargon. And when you're ready to talk specifics, our team is a phone call away.
The fundamentals — what natural gas is, what CNG means, and why so many operations are switching to it.
Natural gas is a fuel that comes from deep underground. It is mostly methane, and it burns cleaner than coal, diesel, or gasoline. In the United States, natural gas generates more electricity than any other fuel source — it powers homes, factories, drilling operations, and increasingly, data centers.
CNG is regular natural gas that has been squeezed under high pressure — around 3,600 PSI — so a large amount of energy fits in a small container. Compressing it makes natural gas easy to move by truck to places pipelines don't reach.
They're all the same fuel in different forms. Natural gas is the gas itself, usually delivered by pipeline. CNG (compressed natural gas) is that gas compressed into high-pressure containers. LNG (liquefied natural gas) is the gas chilled to -260°F until it becomes a liquid. For regional delivery by truck, CNG is typically the simplest and most cost-effective option.
Natural gas is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel. Compared to coal, it produces roughly half the carbon dioxide — and it emits far less soot and sulfur than diesel. That's why many operations are replacing diesel generators with natural gas power.
Electricity generation, heating, manufacturing, powering drilling and frac operations, fueling vehicles — and increasingly, powering data centers and remote work sites that can't wait years for a grid connection.
Three steps take natural gas from a compression station to a site in the middle of nowhere. Broadwind Clean Fuels builds the critical middle step.
Natural gas is compressed to around 3,600 PSI and loaded into tube trailers — semi-trailers carrying large high-pressure cylinders. One trailer hauls hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of gas anywhere a truck can drive.
Trailer pressure is far too high for equipment to use. A pressure reduction system steps the gas down to the exact pressure needed — safely, precisely, and continuously. This is what Broadwind builds.
The conditioned gas feeds generators, turbines, engines, or pipeline systems — producing electricity, fueling frac fleets, or keeping utility customers supplied during repairs.
How natural gas travels by truck — and what it takes to use it once it arrives.
A virtual pipeline is natural gas delivered by truck instead of by pipe. Gas is compressed (CNG), loaded into tube trailers, driven to your site, and stepped down to usable pressure on arrival. It works like a pipeline — just on wheels. Virtual pipelines supply sites that have no pipeline access, need temporary gas service, or need supply restored fast.
A tube trailer is a semi-trailer loaded with large high-pressure cylinders full of compressed natural gas. One trailer can carry hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of gas anywhere a truck can drive.
You need three things: a supply of CNG (delivered by tube trailer), a pressure reduction system to step the gas down from trailer pressure to usable pressure, and the equipment that uses the gas — a generator, engine, or process connection. Broadwind Clean Fuels manufactures the pressure reduction systems that make the middle step work.
Gas arrives in tube trailers at very high pressure — up to 4,900 PSI — far too high for engines and equipment to use. A PRS (also called a stepdown unit, letdown station, or pressure reduction skid) safely lowers that pressure to exactly what your equipment needs, keeps it rock-steady, and manages the extreme cold created as the gas expands. Broadwind PRS units are trailer-mounted and self-contained, so they deploy anywhere the gas needs to go.
When high-pressure gas expands, it gets very cold very fast — an effect known as the Joule-Thompson effect. Without thermal management, valves and regulators can freeze and fail. Broadwind PRS units are engineered to manage these thermal dynamics through the stepdown process, so flow stays consistent and safe even at ambient temperatures down to -40°F.
No grid, no pipeline, no problem — how sites get power when the infrastructure isn't there yet.
Mobile natural gas power: CNG is trucked to your site, a trailer-mounted pressure reduction system conditions the gas, and natural gas generators turn it into electricity. No pipeline, no power lines, no permanent construction — the entire power plant arrives on wheels.
Power equipment that arrives on trailers, runs where you need it, and leaves when you're done. Natural gas mobile power supports data centers waiting on grid connections, oilfield operations, emergency response, utility work, and remote job sites.
Data centers need enormous amounts of power, and grid connections can take years. Many operators now generate power onsite — known as behind-the-meter power — with natural gas. Where pipelines aren't available or aren't built yet, CNG virtual pipelines plus pressure reduction systems bridge the gap so construction and operations don't have to wait.
Customers downstream still need gas while crews work. A tube trailer feeding a PRS can supply the line downstream of the repair — keeping homes and businesses flowing the whole time. This is called utility backfill or pipeline repair supply, and it's one of the most common jobs our systems do.
In many operations, yes. Natural gas burns cleaner, usually costs less per unit of energy, and eliminates constant diesel refueling logistics. Dual fuel and e-frac operations in the oilfield already run on natural gas delivered exactly this way.
It comes down to your flow rate and pressure requirements. Three models cover everything from targeted gas lift supply to full-scale frac and power generation. Not sure? Most first-time callers aren't — reach out and we'll walk you through it.
That's what we're here for. Whether you're an expert or this page was your crash course, our team will help you figure out exactly what your project needs — no pressure. Well, precisely controlled pressure.