of alcohol to acetic acid catalyzed by alcohol oxidase ao is as shown this may also be useful particularly in combination with any of the above schemes in another embodiment of the invention the acetic acid formed in either the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase or the alcohol oxidase reaction or the combination of the two can be converted to methane and carbon dioxide through a methanogenetic enzyme thus driving the alcohol oxidation further toward irreversibility as shown in equation 4 below in another embodiment of this invention the enzymatic reaction can be accelerated by a charge transfer agent such as thiamine formula 5 retinoic acid formula 6 an isoflavonoid or a pyranoside thereof e g daidezin formula 7 or its 7 glucoside commonly known as aloin formula 8 and 4 5 dihydro 4 5 dioxo 1h pyrrolo 2 3 f quinoline 2 7 9 tricarboxylic acid also known as either pyrroloquinolinequinone pqq or methoxatin formula 9 or any combination thereof lipoic acid retinoic acid retinal retinol and derivatives and analogs thereof a sufficient quantity of the charge transfer agent is administered to provide an in vivo concentration of the charge transfer agent in the range from 0 1 and 2 of the maximum expected in vivo molar concentration of ethanol in a further embodiment of the invention various accelerants can be used to supply energy to the forward reactions of equilibria 5 and 6 such accelerants include adenosine 5 u2032.