4.1 Regional differences in GHG emissions of CNC production When we consider location of CNC production in different geographical regions and perform LCA, the resulting GHG emissions vary dramatically, as shown in Figure . The root cause of this difference is the variability in the regional energy profiles, as the contributors other than electricity can be negligible for the full acid recycling (each bar in Figure contains the contributions from pulp, NaOH ect., but they are too small compared to electricity). In the regions with the high percentage of renewable energy in the grid, such as Quebec and Sweden (Quebec generates approximately 94 % of its electricity by hydropower [53]; Sweden produces its electricity at 66% using renewables and 30% using nuclear) we observe the lowest GHG emissions at 13~20 kgCO2eq/kgCNC. In the regions where fossil fuels (gas and coal) are predominant sources of electricity generation (in Alberta, Wisconsin and Tianjin fossil fuels are 90% [55], 71% [56] and 98% , respectively), the GHG emissions per kg of CNC production increase ten times to 500~800 kgCO2eq/kgCNC.