NOVELTY - Producing (I) ethanol comprises: hydrogenating acetic acid in a first reactor in presence of first catalyst; separating the crude ethanol stream into ethanol product stream and process stream comprising water and oxygenates, where process stream comprises less than or equal to 10 wt.% oxygenates; mixing process stream and methane-containing stream; reforming feed stream in second reactor in presence of second catalyst to produce reformed effluent; shifting substantially of all of carbon monoxide in reformed effluent to carbon dioxide and hydrogen; and removing substantially of all of carbon dioxide.    USE - The process is useful for producing ethanol (claimed) which is used in a variety of applications including applications as fuels, solvents, chemical feedstocks, pharmaceutical products, cleansers, sanitizers, hydrogen transport or consumption, and is blended with gasoline for motor vehicles such as automobiles, boats and small piston engine aircraft, non-fuel applications, as a solvent for toiletry and cosmetic preparations, detergents, disinfectants, coatings, inks, and pharmaceuticals, as processing solvent manufacturing processes for medicinal products, food preparations, dyes, photochemicals and latex processing, as a chemical feedstock to make other chemicals such as vinegar, ethyl acrylate, ethyl acetate, ethylene, glycol ethers, ethylamines, aldehydes, and higher alcohols, especially butanol and is esterified with acetic acid and dehydrated to produce ethylene.    ADVANTAGE - The process: provides the ethanol product that does not comprise acetic acid, contains very low amounts of less than 0.5 wt.%, other alcohols, such as methanol, butanol, isobutanol, isoamyl alcohol and other 4-20C alcohols, and is substantially free of acetaldehyde; reduces waste water discharge, and reducing need to purify water streams from ethanol production unit thus leading to additional improvements in capital and energy efficiencies; reduces the footprint of the integrated plant, and utilizes the process stream that eliminates the discharge of water and subsequent remedial cleaning of the water and minimizes hydrocarbon emissions. The integration efficiencies achieved by the process for capturing value from stranded natural gas or associated gas. The stranded natural gas is converted to hydrogen which is used to produce ethanol that is transported from the remote location to commercial markets.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Producing (I) ethanol comprises: hydrogenating acetic acid in a first reactor in the presence of a first catalyst to produce a crude ethanol stream; separating the crude ethanol stream into an ethanol product stream and a process stream comprising water and oxygenates, where the process stream comprises less than or equal to 10 wt.% oxygenates; mixing the process stream and a methane-containing stream to produce a feed stream; reforming the feed stream in a second reactor in the presence of a second catalyst to produce a reformed effluent comprising hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide; shifting substantially of all of the carbon monoxide in the reformed effluent to carbon dioxide and hydrogen; and removing substantially of all of the carbon dioxide to yield a pure hydrogen stream that is fed to the first reactor. An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is also included for producing (II) ethanol comprising: hydrogenating acetic acid in a first reactor in the presence of a catalyst to produce a vapor crude ethanol stream; condensing the vapor crude ethanol stream to obtain a liquid stream and a hydrogen recycle stream; purging gaseous portion of the hydrogen recycle stream; separating the liquid stream into an ethanol product stream and a process stream comprising water and oxygenates, where the process stream comprises less than or equal to 10 wt.% oxygenates; mixing the process stream and a methane-containing stream to produce a feed stream; reforming the feed stream in a second reactor in the presence of a second catalyst to yield a pure hydrogen stream that is fed to the first reactor, where the second reactor comprises a convection section that comprises a furnace and an auxiliary firing section; and introducing the purged gaseous portion to the convection section.