On Sweden's Bothnian coastline, a new skyscraper is bucking the trend of the carbon-heavy construction industry. The 20-story Sara Cultural Center, which opened last September, was built from over 12,000 cubic meters of wood harvested from forests near Skelleftea. The center houses six theater stages, a library, two art galleries, a conference center, and a 205-room hotel. Being the second tallest wooden tower in the world, the building will capture nine million kilograms of carbon dioxide during its lifetime. It also uses solar panels for power. The center is part of a wider effort in Skelleftea to wean the local construction industry off environmentally-harmful materials. Unlike cement, which is the largest single industrial emitter of CO2, wood sequesters carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

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