TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The biomass is grasses, trees, canes, animal waste, food waste, algae, municipal solid waste and harvest residuals. The hydrocarbon gases are carbon monoxide and/or hydrogen. Preferred Method: The biomass is converted to alcohol with enzymes or microorganism. The biomass is converted to methane by methanogenic bacteria. The step (a) comprises: (a1) fermenting biomass to produce carboxylic acids or carboxylic acid salts; (a2) thermally converting the carboxylic acids or carboxylic acid salts to ketones at less than atmospheric pressure; and (a3) hydrogenating the ketones to produce secondary alcohols; pyrolyzing additional biomass to produce additional pyrolysis oil and combusting the additional pyrolysis oil to produce heat to drive the step (a2); (f) converting a second biomass to methane and a second residual biomass or converting landfill gas to methane; (g) reforming the methane to produce hydrogen; and (h) using the hydrogen to drive the step (a3). The step (c) comprises: (c1) thermally converting the methane to acetylene and residual gasses; (c2) separating the acetylene from the residual gases; (c3) hydrogenating the acetylene to form ethylene; and (c4) oligomerizing the ethylene to form a hydrocarbon fuel; pyrolyzing a second biomass to produce additional pyrolysis oil and combusting the additional pyrolysis oil to produce heat to drive the step (c1); recovering supplemental methane from landfill gas, and adding the supplemental methane to the methane for thermal conversion to acetylene and residual gases in step (c1); (f1) converting a second biomass to supplemental methane and a second residual biomass or converting landfill gas to supplemental methane; (g1) steam reforming the supplemental methane to produce hydrogen; (h1) using the hydrogen to drive step (c3). The hydrocarbon gases are also converted to acetylene and residual gases in step (c1). The step (c) comprises oligomerizing the alcohol to form a liquid hydrocarbon fuel. The oligomerization of the alcohol additionally forms light hydrocarbon residuals and the light hydrocarbon residuals are converted to additional alcohol. The step (c) comprises synthesizing a liquid hydrocarbon fuel from the carbon monoxide and the hydrogen using a Fisher-Tropsch reactor. The biomass is dried and micronized prior to step (a). EXAMPLE - Switchgrass (comprising holocellulose (70%) and lignin (27%)) (100 tonnes) was mixed with slaked lime (15 tonnes). The mixture was anaerobically fermented in the presence of inoculum (microorganisms and methanogen inhibitors), water and air for four weeks at 55 degrees C. The microbes produced carboxylic acids. The dissolved acids were collected as an aqueous broth of carboxylic acid salts. The fermentation additionally produced wet residual biomass (61 tonnes) and carbon dioxide (37 tonnes). Approximately 27 tonnes of mixed ketones were drawn from the 50 tonnes of mixed carboxylic acid salts via thermal conversion and evaporative separation. The 27 tonnes of mixed ketones are then converted to approximately 28 tonnes of secondary alcohols by hydrogenation over a nickel catalyst at approximately 130 degrees C and 15 atm hydrogen. Concurrently municipal solid waste (comprising holocellulose) (63 tonnes) was mixed with the fermentation of switchgrass and water (340 tonnes) and inoculum (sludge) (125 tonnes) in an anaerobic digester and allowed to digest for approximately two weeks. During the digestion period, approximately 111 tonnes of biogas, comprising 80% carbon dioxide and 20% methane, was produced. The remaining residual biomasses from switchgrass and municipal solid waste were dried and pulverized and combined. The resulting biomass was pyrolyzed at approximately 500 degrees C to produce pyrolysis oil and hydrocarbon gasses and char. The pyrolysis oil was used to provide heat for drying wet residual biomass, the thermal conversion and evaporative separation of mixed ketones, the oligomerization of secondary alcohols and the conversion of methane to acetylene.