The catalytic performance of cobalt catalysts supported on γ-Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 , ZrO 2 were studied for bio-ethanol steam reforming (BESR) reaction. The supported catalysts (10wt%Co) were prepared by impregnation and characterized through Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), H 2 chemisorption, laser Raman Spectroscopy, Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS), and temperature-programmed reaction (TPRxn). The metallic cobalt sites were found to correlate with the BESR reaction activity. The reaction and H 2 chemisorption showed that ZrO 2 supported catalyst showed the best dispersion and best catalytic activity. Over the 10% Co/ZrO 2 catalyst, using a H 2 O:EtOH:inert molar ratio of 10:1:75 and a GHSV=5000h −1 , 100% ethanol conversion and a yield of 5.5mol H 2 /mol EtOH were obtained at 550°C and atmospheric pressure.