the goal of any lignocellulosic based biorefinery should be to produce a spectrum of marketable products and energy utilizing all significant components of biomass. depending on the maturity of available technology, biorefineries can target high-value low-volume (hvlv), middle-value middle-volume (mvmv), and low-value high-volume (lvhv) outputs provided they are economically feasible. biosuccinic acid (biosa), a mvmv product, has considerable potential as a candidate for biorefineries based on an analysis we carried out initially. the total world production of succinic acid (sa) in 2013–2014 was 38,000 tons, valued at 2.90 usd/kg sa and with predicted worldwide market demand of 94,000 tons by 2025. however, the most crucial challenge encountered with biosa production is the cost of production compared to its conventional fossil-based counterpart. about a decade ago, many industries were set up to produce succinic acid from starch-based renewable sources when the cost of petroleum and petroleumbased products was higher than 100 dollars a barrel. the drop-in petroleum prices have led to the closure or re-orientation of some of these industrial units. [...]