After logging in afforestation forests in parts of Europe, the remaining segment is now sometimes pulled from the ground to supply wood fuel to biomass power plants. The stump is the base of the trunk and the woody roots attached to it. Tree stumps and roots are removed using a hydraulic head on a crawler excavator or with a mechanical head equipped with a special tool for tractors. The stump harvest is expected to provide an increased component of woody material needed by the woody biomass energy sector in Europe.

Stump harvesting is not suitable in many soils where its removal results in long-term reduction in nutrition or an unacceptable loss of soil carbon. [1] In addition, care should be taken to avoid areas with archeology, ecologically sensitive areas, steep slopes, and areas close to streams and rivers. In many cases, the removal of logs results in further wood loss resulting in the loss of potential biodiversity that depends on the wood.

Stump harvesting is not a new process. Records of logs mined from the ground for wood fuel date back hundreds of years in Europe. It was applied in Swedish forests before it waned in popularity in the 1970s, but is now being reconsidered there as there is a greater need for firewood. In England, particularly southeast England, stumps are removed in some forests for disease control. Additionally, it is mined when plantation forest areas are turned into peat swamps for conservation purposes. Small-scale commercial log harvesting has recently begun in parts of Scotland to fuel biomass power stations. In Finland, logs were once used to produce tar and charcoal. In the 1970s, a series of trials were set up in Finland to examine the viability of log harvesting for woody biomass, but it has only recently evolved into a large-scale commercial operation.