A novel method of producing methanol from coke oven gas (COG), involving the CO2 reforming of COG to obtain an appropriate syngas for the synthesis of methanol is proposed. This method is compared with a conventional process of methanol synthesis from natural gas, in terms of energy consumption, CO2 emissions, raw material exploitation and methanol purity. Whereas this new process requires the consumption of less energy, the conventional process allows a higher energy recovery. CO2 emissions are considerably lower with the new process, but the geographic situation of the plant plays a determinant role. From the point of view of raw material exploitation and methanol purity, the process proposed yields better results. These results suggest that methanol production from coke oven gas would be a more attractive alternative to conventional processes. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.