The most common application is using the fiber from trees to make paper and paper products. Fiber from softwood trees such as pine and fiber from hardwood trees such as oak or hickory are utilized in different types of paper due to fiber length and strength.
Most softwood trees grow very quickly and can be replanted very easily.
This is not true of hardwoods. A hardwood tree may take two to three times as long to grow as a pine tree. There has been a lot of research on trying to find a substitute source of fiber for the fiber currently being obtained from hardwood trees. E-Grass appears to be the answer. Test data from the pulp and paper department at NC State University, shows that E-Grass fiber takes less chemicals to pulp and less chemicals to bleach than required in pulping hardwood chips.