“It makes little sense to try rewriting thermodynamic law to invent new methods of propulsion in the name of ‘pollution’.”
Norm, I don’t think the laws of thermodynamics are a problem. However there are other problems that I can see. Not the least of which is the relative inefficiency involved in compressing air.
Air tends to heat up when you compress it. That low level heat represents a significant loss of energy. Pneumatic tools are a good example. It can take a 5HP compressor to run a 1HP die grinder continuously...
At least with a steam engine you get to recycle much of the heat with a counter flow heat exchanger. I don’t see how you could do that with a comressor.
They are when you consider the fact that someone has to somehow compress the air, store it, transfer it, provide the . All that adds up. Equipment for storing it and the rest also have to factor in, their manufacture, raw materials etc. The inefficiency is off the charts, the energy taken from traditional sources still emits pollution and there is no way to square all that with TD and call it a net gain over traditional gas/diesel..