Comparison with batteries[edit]

Advanced fiber-reinforced bottles are comparable to the rechargeable lead-acid battery in terms of
energy density. Batteries provide nearly constant voltage over their entire charge level, whereas the
pressure varies greatly while using a pressure vessel from full to empty. It is technically challenging
to design air engines to maintain high efficiency and sufficient power over a wide range of pressures.
Compressed air can transfer power at very high flux rates, which meets the principal acceleration
and deceleration objectives of transportation systems, particularly for hybrid vehicles.
Compressed air systems have advantages over conventional batteries including longer lifetimes
of pressure vessels and lower material toxicity. Newer battery designs such as those based
on Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry suffer from neither of these problems. Compressed air costs
are potentially lower; however advanced pressure vessels are costly to develop and safety-test and
at present are more expensive than mass-produced batteries.
As with electric storage technology, compressed air is only as "clean" as the source of the energy
that it stores. Life cycle assessment addresses the question of overall emissions from a given
energy storage technology combined with a given mix of generation on a power grid.