HOUSTON, Texas — Rice University scientists have figured out a way to engineer wood to trap carbon dioxide through a potentially scalable, energy-efficient process that also makes the material stronger for use in construction. Structural materials like steel or cement come at a high cost both in dollars and carbon dioxide emissions. …Developing sustainable alternatives to existing materials could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Working to address both issues at once, materials scientist Muhammad Rahman and collaborators found a way to incorporate molecules of a carbon dioxide-trapping crystalline porous material into wood, according to a study published in Cell Reports Physical Science. “Wood is a sustainable, renewable structural material that we already use extensively,” Rahman said. “Our engineered wood did exhibit greater strength than normal, untreated wood.” …“The next step would be to… understand the scalability and commercial viability of this material,” he added.