A novel route for DME production from biomass was proposed and tested in a bench scale experimental system. A Cu-Zn-Al/HZSM-5 (16.7 wt%) was developed for DME synthesis from the biomass-derived syngas. At 1113 K, atmospheric pressure, the feed rate of 0.6 kg biomass/h, ER of 0.28, and CO2/biomass ratio of 0.327, 1.4 Nm(3) of raw gas kg (1) biomass with LHV of 8.36 MJ m(-3) was produced. With reforming by the biogas addition of 0.54 Nm(3) kg(-1) biomass, the yield of syngas increased to 2.5 Nm(3) from 1.4 Nm(3) of raw gas, and the ratio of H-2/CO was adjusted to 1.18. At ideal synthesis conditions, it was simulated based on kinetics equations for direct DME synthesis on Cu-Zn-Al/HZSM-5 catalyst that 78.5% of CO conversion and 379 g DME per kg biomass could be obtained. Gasification with CO2 agent and sequent co-reforming with biogas supplies great potential for high efficient production of DME from biomass. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.