Steam engines waste heat flow in a similar way. How could this be corrected? One way, Carnot argues, is to use atmospheric air as the substance that pushes the piston. Because air contains oxygen, fuel can burn and generate heat inside the cylinder and not in an external boiler as happens in a steam engine. “Considerable loss could thus be prevented” is how Carnot puts it. Air has another advantage—it has a lower “specific heat” than steam. That means, roughly, that the same amount of heat can raise the temperature of a quantity of air by a greater amount than an equivalent quantity of steam.
