THE GREEN NEW DEAL IS TOO CAUTIOUS:

A sheet of transparent new material at a University of Maryland lab looks like it might be plastic. But it's actually wood--and it could eventually be used to make energy-efficient windows or even see-through buildings.

"Compared to glass, wood has lower thermal conductivity, and it's lighter, stronger, and more environmentally friendly," says Liangbing Hu, a materials science professor at the University of Maryland and one of the authors of a new study of the material. The idea is to employ the material in buildings. With a window made from transparent wood instead of glass, for example, a building would take less energy to heat and cool. Because of the structure of the wood, the windows could also reduce glare from the sun while allowing in natural light.

Researchers have experimented with transparent wood in the past, but the new method is more sustainable. 

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