multicriteria feasibility assessment of biosuccinic acid production from lignocellulosic biomass
abstract
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. [...]