This invention relates to the single step conversion of ethanol (either aqueous or neat) to 1- and 2-butenes. 1-Butene itself a commodity chemical can be converted into polybutene, its main application is as a comonomer in the production of certain kinds of polyethylene, such as linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE). 1-Butene has also been used as a precursor to polypropylene resins, butylene oxide, and butanone. Mixtures of 1-butene and 2-butene, as produced by the methods disclosed in this invention, can be oligomerized into gasoline, jet, and diesel fuels and/or into valuable fuel additives and lubricants. Currently, producing 1- and 2-butene from ethanol is performed by first dehydrating ethanol into ethylene and then ethylene can be dimerized into 1- and 2-butene in a second step. Here we disclose the methods for producing 1- and 2-butene mixtures directly from ethanol using specially tailored polyfunctional catalysts comprising metal component with relatively weak hydrogenation ability (e.g., Ag) with mildly acidic support materials (e.g., ZrO2 supported on SiO2). In previous work, including the filing of a separate patent, we demonstrated such catalytic materials to be active for converting ethanol into 1,3-butadiene in one reactor. In this disclosure we report these catalysts to be active and selective for converting ethanol to 1- and 2-butenes in one single reactor under mild reducing conditions (e.g., under H2, T = 325 degrees C, P = 7 bar). Furthermore, parameters such as H2 concentration, H2O concentration, space velocity and pressure were demonstrated to have significant effect on conversion, selectivity, and stability. H2-addition to the feed favors the formation of 1- and 2-butene at the expense of butadiene (see Table 1 in Slide 2 of the attached PPT file). For example, for a 4Ag/4ZrO2/SiO2 catalyst operating at 325 degrees C, P = 7 bar, WHSV= 0.23 hr-1, incremental addition of H2 to the feed gas from 0% to 100% (carrier gas content) leads to a decrease of conversion from 99 to 85% accompanied by an increase of the 1- and 2-butene combined selectivity from ~ 16 to 51%. Meanwhile the ethylene selectivity increases from ~ 8.6 to 26% while the butadiene selectivity decreases from 63.7% to 0%. Thus, in general 1- and 2-butene is formed at the expense of 1,3-butadiene when H2 content is added to the feed. We also demonstrated how catalytic stability is enhanced when H2 is added to N2 as the carrier gas for the process (see Slide 9 in the attached PPT summary). Thus, the addition of H2 (to the ethanol feed) not only alters the product distribution favoring a butene product slate but it also significantly suppresses coking resulting in enhanced catalytic stability. We also note that while H2 addition to the feed may add cost to the overall process, hydrogen is usually needed anyhow for fuels production as the final olefin product after oligomerization needs to be hydrotreated. Thus, the added hydrogen can be used in the latter hydrotreatment step and unconverted hydrogen can be recycled to the front end of the process. We further investigated process parameters that affect catalytic performance. For example, higher contact time favors the formation of 1- and 2-butenes (see Table 2 in Slide 3 of the attached PPT file). As shown in Table 2 decreasing the space velocity from 14.6 to 0.23 hr-1 while operating under H2 gas leads to an increase of the conversion from ~ 11 to 85% and an increase of both 1- and 2-butenes and ethylene selectivities from ~13 to 51% and ~15 to 26%, respectively. Meanwhile, both acetaldehyde and butyraldehyde selectivities decrease whereas butadiene selectivity remains negligible. This suggests that the mechanism for butene formation involves the conversion of acetaldehyde to crotyl alcohol, isomerization of crotyl alcohol to butyraldehyde, and butenes formation from butyraldehyde deoxygenation. The effect of operating pressure was also investigated and it was found that higher pressure favors the formation of butenes at the expense of butadiene (see Table 3 in Slide 4 in the attached PPT file). For example, increasing the pressure from atmospheric to 14 bar while operating under H2 gas leads to an increase of the conversion from 52 to 83% and an increase of the C4+ olefins selectivity from 8.1 to 44% while the selectivity toward butadiene and ethylene decreases from 43 to 0% and 22 to 7%, respectively. Addition of water to the feed also leads to a decrease of the conversion, from 94.0%, with 100 % ethanol as a feedstock, and to 76%, with 35% ethanol in H2O as a feedstock (see Table 4 in Slide 5 in the PPT file). The butenes selectivity is only slightly affected by the presence of water since it decreases from 58% to 55%. However, this demonstrates that diluted feeds of ethanol can be used as feedstock and separation of water and ethanol is not required prior to conversion. The product from the ethanol conversion contains primarily butenes and ethylene olefins mixed with H2. Thus, for purpose of producing fuels from the olefin precursors we also demonstrated feasibility for oligomerization by co-feeding ethylene and/or H2 with butene mixtures over zeolite catalysts. Oligomerization of butenes in the presence of H2 was found to be feasible (see Slide 6 in the attached file). Adding H2 to the feed leads to about 20% lower C8+ olefins production. Oligomerization of butenes + ethylene mixture was also investigated to determine the effect of ethylene on the oligomerization of butenes (see Slide 7 in the attached PPT file). Adding ethylene to the feed was also demonstrated to lead to higher paraffins/olefins ratio due to hydrogenation activity but does not affect the production of C8+ olefins since the same quantity of product was obtained w and w/o ethylene addition to the feed. Oligomerization of butenes in the presence of H2 and ethylene was also examined (see Slide 8 in the attached PPT file). The ratio paraffins/olefins is equal to about 0.4 in the presence of H2 + ethylene as opposed to < 0.5 without H₂ + ethylene indicating a significant hydrogenation activity. The quantity of C₈⁺ olefins produced is about 10% higher in the presence of H₂ and ethylene and is likely due to ethylene oligomerization to C₈⁺ product occurring in the meantime as butenes oligomerization. Thus, we demonstrate that oligomerization of 1-butene is feasible in the presence of H₂ and/or ethylene co-feed. We also note that in separate experiments (not shown) we show the product distribution for 2-butene oligomerization to be very similar to that of 1-butene. Thus, a feed containing mixtures and 1- and 2-butene would produce a similar product distribution.