NOVELTY - Production (p1) of ethanol from syngas involves providing syngas; converting syngas in presence of a catalyst to produce a mixture of methanol, carbon monoxide and hydrogen; reacting methanol, carbon monoxide and hydrogen in presence of promoter and metal catalyst of a metal e.g. iridium to form a mixture (m1) of methyl acetate, hydrogen, methanol, acetic acid and water; separating the mixture (m1) to produce a mixture of methyl acetate and methanol, and fraction e.g. hydrogen fraction; and reacting methyl acetate and methanol mixture with hydrogen in presence of a hydrogenation catalyst.    USE - For the production of ethanol (claimed) which is useful for beverages, industrial processes and as fuel for combustion engines.    ADVANTAGE - The yield of ethanol is maximized by the selection of efficient catalytic steps. The method efficiently converted sygas into ethanol by using little purification and water removal steps.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Production (p1) of ethanol from syngas involves providing syngas; converting syngas in the presence of a catalyst to produce a mixture comprising methanol, carbon monoxide and hydrogen; reacting methanol, carbon monoxide and hydrogen in presence of promoter and metal catalyst of a metal selected from iridium, iron, cobalt, nickel, ruthenium, palladium, osmium and platinum, to form a mixture (m1) of methyl acetate, hydrogen, methanol, acetic acid and water; separating the mixture (m1) to produce a mixture of methyl acetate and methanol and a fraction selected from hydrogen, promoter, acetic acid, and water fraction; reacting methyl acetate and methanol mixture with hydrogen in presence of a hydrogenation catalyst. INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for the following:    (1) production (p2) of ethanol from biomass involving gasifying biomass, in the presence of steam and in the absence of air, in a steam gasifier, to produce syngas, where the steam gasifier is a box-like vessel including several tubes and bottom that is a distributor plate; and reacting the syngas in the presence of at least one catalysts to produce ethanol. The gasifying biomass includes: transmitting hot gases through the tubes; placing biomass into the steam gasifier; and fluidizing the bed by injecting steam through the distributor plate into the bed;    (2) preparation (p3) of syngas from biomass providing a bed having several tubes and comprising a mineral material, where the bed is contained in a boxlike vessel having a floor that is a distributor plate; fluidizing the bed by injecting steam into the bed through the distributor plate, in such a manner so as to evenly fluidize the bed; heating the bed by transmitting hot gases through the tubes, where the hot flue gases are produced by combusting a fuel; and injecting biomass into the bed so as to gasify the biomass to produce syngas;    (3) an apparatus (a1) for producing syngas from biomass according to the method (p3), where the capped cylinders are arranged on the distributor plate so as to evenly fluidize the bed;    (4) an apparatus (a2) for producing ethanol, such plant comprising: mixture of methanol, carbon monoxide and hydrogen; a methyl acetate reactor having a catalyst comprising a metal selected from indium, iron, cobalt, nickel, ruthenium, palladium, osmium, and platinum, and using a promoter, and having as an output a mixture comprising methyl acetate, acetic acid, hydrogen, water and methanol; a distiller that separates components of the mixture comprising methyl acetate, acetic acid, hydrogen, water and methanol; and an ethanol reactor having an input comprising hydrogen, methyl acetate and methanol and having an output comprising ethanol; and    (5) producing ethanol involving either gasifying biomass to produce syngas containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen, reacting syngas in the presence of a metal catalyst to produce a mixture comprising methanol and carbon monoxide, catalyst to produce a mixture comprising methyl acetate, and reacting methyl acetate and hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst to produce a mixture comprising ethanol; or gasifying biomass in a fluidized bed gasification chamber, with steam added and in the absence of air, where the chamber is indirectly heated using hot gases formed from the combustion of a fuel, to produce syngas, and reacting syngas in a stepwise catalytic reaction to produce ethanol.