The article shows that during the production and consumption of fuel wood for bioenergy projects in the organization of the Northwest and other regions of Russia there is the problem of lack of raw materials. It is established that the waste timber, during cutting on average, about 20% of the stock of standing timber. This value varies according to region, type forest resources and the skills, and technical equipment performer. Therefore, the main purpose of the article is a system evaluation of the use of forest residues in Russia. The authors present data on volumes of raw materials for production of wood chips and pellets on example, the Northwest region of Russia. Only about 30% of wood chips are now received from wood waste, bulk wood chips, and pellets produced from the wood of stems. Small volume of use of bark, twigs, branches, tops, stumps, and roots is due imperfection of processing technologies. Another important issue addressed in the article – the lack of standards and guides taxation inventory valuation and structure of the waste in many regions of Russia. This primarily relates to the hardwood. Research has shown that, depending on tree species, the structure and volume of waste are significantly different. Expert evaluation conducted by the authors shows that the proportion of forest residues from 5 to 20% of the stock of wood. It is found that in different forest types share twigs, branches, stumps, and roots vary considerably according to species of tree. But even within the forest reserves such as twigs, branches, and underground parts of the same species depend strongly on the age of stands and their completeness, and the differences may reach 2 to 5 times the size.