In Sweden, timber is harvested and sent to the saw mill while branches and tops are placed in piles along the road. Tarps are placed over the pile to help keep the pile dry. After several months of drying, the piles are transported to a central heat plant. The dried pine residue is burned to produce steam and hot water. The hot water is then used in homes, reducing the need for residential hot water heaters.

In the United States, branches and tops are often left in the forest to decay. Once pine logs have been harvested for sawtimber and pulpwood, there are often 20-80 tonnes/ha of biomass remaining on the site. In some harvest operations, the branches and tops and non­merchantable stems are ground or chipped for use as energy. Crews with specialized biomass harvesting equipment process the pine tops, branches and non-merchantable hardwoods. The chips are then transported to a power company to produce electricity and heat. Some of the excess heat is used to dry chips prior to burning. In many cases, removing a residue of 60 tonnes/ha will reduce the cost of land clearing needed prior to establishing the next pine plantation. This savings could exceed $60/ha [14]. Currently, much of the fuel wood chips harvested in this manner in the United States are used by pulp mills to supplement mill residues and natural gas for cogeneration of steam and electricity.