Accsys, an environmental science technology company floated today on AIM at 1 Euro p/share. Their subsidiary Titan wood converses softwoods into hardwoods thru acetylation. Have a look at www.titanwood.com and /or obtain a copy of collins stewart research in company. Could be massive

Whether it is "as pretty" as hard wood I do not know, but there are so many applications possible that do not require a nice grain so I do not believe it matters that much. Admit multi porous paints are expensive but only by a factor 2 or 3 if I remember correctly which when you consider the coverage of tin of paint is not that significant. What is significant imho is that it gets hard wood properties from sustainble soft woods.