"it works against entropy"

It only appears to. The total energy 'potential' after the changes over a long enough period of time has still increased entropy. Now if you do 'Work' you can 'pump up' the energy in a small system (transferring and transmuting energy), but you get that energy into that system by running down the energy in another system. You can charge a car battery from a wall socket, but you get a higher home electricity bill ... :-)