NOVELTY - Producing glycol, comprises: providing a bio-based feedstock; contacting the bio-based feedstock with digestive solvent; contacting the bio-based feedstock stream with hydrogen; contacting at least a first portion of the hydrogenolysis stream with hydrogen; processing at least a portion of the oxygenated intermediate stream; providing a second portion of the hydrogenolysis stream; separating a portion of the hydrogenolysis stream, in the first separation system, to a monooxygenates stream, by flashing; and recovering glycols from the glycol rich stream.    USE - The method is useful for producing glycols (claimed) and hydrocarbons from bio-based feedstocks, such as carbohydrates, which include sugars, sugar alcohols, celluloses, lignocelluloses, hemicelluloses or lignocellulosic biomass, to form higher hydrocarbons, which is useful in forming transportation fuels, such as synthetic gasoline, diesel fuel, and jet fuel, and industrial chemicals, and the glycols are useful in many conventional chemicals applications as solvents and as chemical precursors.    ADVANTAGE - The method provides high yield of higher hydrocarbons, glycols and liquid fuels, with minimal formation of by products such as coke, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, heavy ends, tars and light alkane (less than 5C) gaseous byproducts. The glycols are readily produced as intermediates and easily separated by flash distillation from the primarily mono-oxygenate intermediates.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Producing glycol, comprises: either (i) providing a bio-based feedstock, (ii) contacting the bio-based feedstock with a digestive solvent to provide a bio-based feedstock stream containing carbohydrates and water, (iii) contacting the bio-based feedstock stream with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenolysis catalyst at 120-280 degrees C and 0.1-150 bar of hydrogen to produce a hydrogenolysis stream containing at least 5 wt.% of glycols comprising ethylene glycol and 1,2-propylene glycol, and other monooxygenates, in a first reaction system, (iv) contacting at least a first portion of the hydrogenolysis stream with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenolysis catalyst at 160-280 degrees C and in the presence of 0.1-150 bar hydrogen to produce a oxygenated intermediate stream comprising at least 5 wt.% of monooxygenated hydrocarbons of chain length less than 6 carbons, in a second reaction system, (v) processing at least a portion of the oxygenated intermediate stream to form a liquid fuel, (vi) providing a second portion of the hydrogenolysis stream to a first separation system, (vii) separating a portion of the hydrogenolysis stream, in the first separation system, to a monooxygenates stream comprising monooxygenates and a glycol rich stream comprising at least 10 wt.% of glycols by flashing, and (viii) recovering glycols from the glycol rich stream; or providing a bio-based feedstock stream containing carbohydrates and water, contacting the bio-based feedstock stream with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenolysis catalyst at 120-280 degrees C and 0.1-150 bar of hydrogen to produce a hydrogenolysis intermediate containing at least 5 wt.% of the glycols, and other monooxygenates, in a first reaction zone, contacting the hydrogenolysis intermediate with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenolysis catalyst at 160-280 degrees C and in the presence of 0.1-150 bar hydrogen to produce a combined glycol and oxygenated intermediate stream comprising at least 5 wt.% of monooxygenated hydrocarbons of chain length less than 6 carbons, and greater than 5 wt.% of glycols, in a second reaction zone, separating the combined glycol and oxygenated intermediate stream into a glycol rich stream comprising at least 10 wt.% of glycols, and a mono-oxygenates-rich stream, by flashing, processing at least a portion of the monooxygenates rich stream to form a liquid fuel, and the step (viii) as above per se.