NOVELTY - Production of synthesis gas (300) from carbonaceous material comprises providing a mixture comprising carbonaceous material and liquid medium (400); subjecting the mixture to high shear under gasification conditions (500), where high shear-treated stream comprising synthesis gas is produced; and separating a product comprising synthesis gas from high shear-treated stream (600).    USE - The method is for production of synthesis gas from carbonaceous material comprising coke, coal, peat, and/or natural gas. The synthesis gas is used for production of liquid product comprising alcohol. The liquid product comprises liquid hydrocarbons and alcohols. It comprises primarily liquid hydrocarbons, primarily alcohols, or equivalent amounts of alcohols and liquid hydrocarbons. The liquid product is selected from C2+ hydrocarbons and/or C2+ oxygenates. The coal is selected from bituminous, anthracite, or lignite. The carbonaceous material comprises powdered coal or coalbed methane. (all claimed)    ADVANTAGE - The method provides for more optimal time, temperature, and pressure conditions than are otherwise possible, and which potentially increases the rate of the multiphase process. It potentially provides overall cost reduction by operating at lower temperature and/or pressure, increased product per unit of catalyst consumed, decreased reaction time, and/or reduced capital and/or operating costs due to the possibility of designing smaller reactors. The application of enhanced mixing of the reactants by high shear mixing device potentiates an increase in throughput of the process stream. In contrast to some methods that attempt to increase the degree of conversion by simply increasing reactor pressures, the superior dispersion and contact provided by external high shear mixing allow in many cases a decrease in overall operating pressure while maintaining or even increasing product production. The method permits design of smaller and/or less capital intensive process than previously possible without the use of external high shear device.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are included for:    (1) production of liquid product comprising alcohol from synthesis gas comprising introducing synthesis gas and liquid carrier into a high shear device comprising a rotor(s) and complementarily-shaped stator(s); and subjecting the contents of the high shear device to a shear rate of greater than or equal to 10000/second, where shear rate is defined as the tip speed divided by the shear gap, and tip speed is defined as pi Dn, where D is diameter of rotor and n is the frequency of revolution;    (2) production of liquid product comprising forming a dispersion comprising gas bubbles dispersed in a liquid phase in a high shear device, where average gas bubble diameter is less than 1.5 mu m; contacting the dispersion with a multifunctional catalyst to form the liquid product; and recovering the liquid product;    (3) a system for producing a liquid product comprising high shear mixing device(s) comprising inlet(s), outlet(s), rotor(s), and stator(s) separated by a shear gap, which is the minimum distance between the rotor and stator, and the high shear mixing device is capable of producing a tip speed of the rotor of greater than 22.9 m/s; and a pump for delivering a fluid stream comprising liquid medium via inlet to the high shear mixing device; and    (4) a system for producing synthesis gas (300) from carbonaceous material comprising apparatus for providing a mixture comprising carbonaceous material and liquid medium; high shear device(s) comprising rotor(s) and complementarily-shaped stator(s), and configured to subject the mixture to high shear (500) and produce a high shear-treated stream comprising synthesis gas, where rotor provides a tip speed of greater than or equal to 23 m/s; and pump for delivering the mixture to the high shear device.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The drawing is a flowchart illustrating the production of synthesis gas.    Production of synthesis gas (300)    Providing mixture comprising carbonaceous material and liquid medium (400)    Subjecting the mixture to high shear under gasification conditions (500)    Separating product comprising synthesis gas from high shear-treated stream (600)