In this paper, the efficiency of one full charging and discharging cycle of several adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) configurations are analyzed with the help of an energy balance. In the second step main driving factors for the efficiency of the CAES configurations are examined with the help of sensitivity analysis. The results show that the efficiency of the polytropic configuration is about 60%, which is considerable lower than literature values of an adiabatic CAES of about 70%. The high value of 70% is only reached for the isentropic (ideal) configuration. Key element to improve the efficiency is to develop high temperature thermal storages (>600 degrees C) and temperature resistant materials for compressors. The highest efficiency is delivered by the two-stage adiabatic CAES configuration. In this case the efficiency varies between 52% and 62%, depending on the cooling and heating demand. If the cooling is achieved by natural sources (such as a river), a realistic estimation of the efficiency of adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storages (without any greenhouse gas emissions due to fuel consumption) is about 60%. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.