The present work reports the improvement in the H 2 production from the autothermal reforming of ethanol (ATR) through the addition of a second water–gas shift (WGS) catalytic bed in the same reactor. Thus, three Ni catalysts (ca. 10, 15 and 20%, w/w) supported on Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) were synthesized for the ATR process and characterized by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AA), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and N 2 adsorption/desorption. A commercial water–gas shift (WGS) Fe–Cr catalyst was employed for the double bed reactor configuration. The synthesized Ni based catalysts presented almost complete conversion of ethanol at low temperatures (below 400°C) compatible with the WGS process. The addition of a second WGS bed in the same reactor, which works with an additional amount of water, led to a higher production of H 2 and to an important removal of the CO coming from the ATR process. Therefore, the proposed compact reactor configuration shows potential for the simultaneous production and purification of H 2 from ethanol.