Well, I did a little reading this morning and it turns out I have to eat my words A BIT....
The secret to whether my earlier point is valid or not seems to come back to how the energy was derived (for electric hybrids anyway). If the electric used to power an electric car or hybrid was derived from a coal power plant then the sad truth is that car has a larger carbon footprint than a normal combustion engine vehicle. If the same electric was generated by a natural gas plant, the carbon footprint appears to be drastically lower. :crazyeyes:
It seems I failed to account for the fact that even today's combustion engines are far from efficient, and with improvements in electric energy generation the losses in conversion and storage are not as significant as I thought.
But this thread is about a compressed air hybrid.... I'm not sure but I think my point may still be valid here. Compressed air generation has similar efficiencies to a combustion engine, and with the added energy conversions (and losses associated with it), I can't imagine this car has a smaller carbon footprint. Does it use less gas, Yes. Is it better for the environment, well I don't know but I doubt it.:brows: