(Natural News) Swedish researchers fiddled with wood until they managed to turn it technically transparent. They also made the biodegradable material capable of absorbing heat from sunlight and releasing it during colder periods.

If used in the windows of buildings, the revolutionary material might help save energy by reducing the need for artificial heating and cooling. It is also biodegradable and able to support heavy loads. The wood makes it possible to build environment-friendly homes and structures out of the transparent, heat-retaining wood.

Researchers from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology (KT) came up with the new heat-retaining material. They extracted the opaque lignin naturally found in the cell walls of wood.

In place of the lignin, they added polyethylene glycol (PEG), a compound that absorbs heat. They also added acrylic to prevent light from scattering through the porous wood.

The result was a material that possessed considerable physical strength and clarity. While the wood was not fully transparent, its partial transparency offered a balance of privacy and lighting.

In addition to providing a mix of light and privacy, the transparent wood captures heat that would otherwise increase the temperature of the indoor environment. Not only does it keep the indoor space cooler during the day, the material also releases the heat when night falls. (Related: New material made from recycled plastic bottles could help reduce water pollution.)