NOVELTY - Converting carbonaceous feedstock to alcohol involves reforming feedstock into syngas stream (A1) of hydrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide; separating the carbon dioxide to yield second syngas stream (A2); passing (A2) through catalyzed reactor to form alcohol; diverting the methane produced to methane reformer along with carbon dioxide, to form carbon monoxide and hydrogen; and passing it through catalyzed alcohol reactor.    USE - For converting carbonaceous feedstock to alcohol particularly ethanol; for controlling the proportions of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane in a syngas stream (claimed).    ADVANTAGE - The method provides ethanol with higher yields i.e. at least 757 liters (200 gallons) ethanol/ton of feedstock than the yields obtained by the prior art methods.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for the following:    (1) a catalyst (I) comprising elemental cobalt with minor amounts of manganese, copper, zinc, chromium and/or aluminum;    (2) preparing (I) by mixing (wt.%) the salts of cobalt (65 - 75), manganese (4 - 12), zinc (4 - 10), copper (4 - 6), chromium (6 - 10) and/or aluminum (6 - 10) and alkali or alkaline earth salt; pelletizing the mixture, either by forming pellets of the mixture, or loading the mixture onto carbon pellets; and exposing the resulting pellets to a reducer doped inert gas at elevated temperature and pressure until the cobalt, manganese, copper, zinc, chromium, aluminum or mixtures of salts have been reduced;    (3) controlling the proportions of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane in a syngas stream involving adjusting the contact time of the syngas at elevated temperatures in the reformer, and adjusting exit gas temperature of the syngas as it leaves the reformer, to achieve proportions of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane most closely approximate those desired given the intended use of the syngas;    (4) converting carbonaceous feedstock to syngas involving comminuting the feedstock; entraining the comminuted feedstock in a stream of inert gas (preferably flue gas) and conveying it to a feed hopper where it is maintained in an inert gas environment; metering the flow rate of feedstock into the reformer by a rotary valve through which the feedstock is fed (where the rotary valve comprising several separate compartments which rotate from a valve inlet at which comminuted feedstock is fed into a valve compartment to a valve outlet at which comminuted feedstock flows from the rotary valve); feeding the feedstock through a feed conduit leading from the rotary valve outlet to a stream under pressure into which the feedstock is fed and entrained; feeding inert gas into the feed conduit under pressure, to prevent the steam under pressure from creating a back pressure in the feed conduit which would prevent comminuted feedstock from feeding into the stream of steam under pressure; feeding inert gas under pressure into the rotary valve such that it pressurizes a compartment after it has passed the rotary valve inlet and before it has reached the rotary valve outlet thus the comminuted feedstock contained in the compartment is maintained under pressure; providing a vent in the rotary valve at a point between the outlet and the inlet, in the direction in which the compartments are rotated, such that a compartment under pressure which has been emptied at the outlet and is returning to the inlet will be vented of pressure introduced when the inert gas is fed into the compartment under pressure, before the emptied compartment reaches the rotary valve inlet; and feeding the steam entrained stream of comminuted feedstock to a feedstock reformer;    (5) an apparatus for handling comminuted carbonaceous feedstock comprising a hopper for holding feedstock; a rotary valve through which the feedstock is fed; a feed conduit leading from the rotary valve outlet to a conduit for stream of stream under pressure into which the feedstock is fed and entrained; a feed conduit for feeding inert gas into the feed conduit; a second feed conduit for feeding inert gas under pressure into the rotary valve; and a vent in the rotary valve; and    (6) an apparatus comprising a carbonaceous feedstock reformer for generating syngas; first conduit having a flow path through which syngas flows; a carbon dioxide separator located in the flow path downstream from the feedstock reformer; an alcohol catalyzed reactor located in the flow path downstream from the carbon dioxide separator; a gas separator for separating gas from liquid exiting the alcohol catalyzed reactor; a methane reformer and a second conduit connecting the gas separator to the methane reformer, where the gas stream and any methane, which is separated from liquid at the gas separator, is conveyed to the methane reformer; a third conduit connecting the carbon dioxide separator to the methane reformer, where the methane in the gas stream can be reacted with carbon dioxide to form carbon monoxide and hydrogen; a fourth conduit connecting the methane reformer to one of the first conduit and the alcohol reactor.