Norwegian Wood

This was a weekend evening in Oslo, the city was only lit by all the thousands of Christmas lights on buildings and trees, and the sky was blueish black, with a crisp air around us. Air temperatures some -8C. I was on my way to a theatre in the city district, to experience a piece on/of Norwegian wood.

A Massey Ferguson 133, part of the MF100 product range, was massively in demand. The 133, with 37.5 hp Perkins engine, was built in France — comes driving in the background of the scene, it is the musician’s (see later) own workhorse. The forestry workers are strategizing how to fell the tall birch, in the middle of the scene, and demonstrate how this is done efficiently, with experience, and warmth, in a safe manner, until it is cut up in fire-place logs we also have been demonstrated how to make your campfire.

A whole lot of wood, and chains saws. (M. Tienhaara)

This all happens without a typical dialogue in the theatre, but it is accompanied by a few songs composed and performed by the excellent Stein Torleif Bjella*, a renowned Norwegian singer-songwriter along with the actors, who also himself is a farmer. The rhythm of the woodcutting is well-demonstrated with the axes chopping the logs timed with the subtle drumming.

The history of wood as a key resource in Norway for affordable energy goes a long way back, and forests we do have an abundance of. Forests are also natural carbon sinks, so we need to take good care of these. Wood firing these days is less than 10% of Norwegian heating, with volumes of less than 1 million tonnes annually (of wood). Warming climate, improved wood-firing ovens, and development of affordable heat pumps have been part of reducing wood firing in the country over the past decade. It is seen as part of the carbon circularity, absorbed by the trees, then released during the burning again. More concerning are the particle emissions as part of the flue gas. Improved ovens and better technology are part of reducing these emissions.

SSB Norway statistics for amount (in tonnes) of domestic wood firing

The theatre is based on the non-fiction book by Lars Mytting**, “Norwegian Wood”, and explores this nation’s outskirts and practices for wood firing, how to dry the wood, and more. It has become an international success and bestseller.

/Mika

• *Stein Torleif Bjella on Spotify: Stein Torleif Bjella | Spotify
• **Lars Mytting: larsmytting.net
• More about Massey Ferguson: Homepage (masseyferguson.com)