The catalytic behaviors of Rh catalysts supported on Ce-La solid solution in H-2 production from the oxidative steam reforming (OSR) of ethanol were studied for the first time. 1%Rh/Ce0.7La0.3Oy exhibits 100% ethanol conversion at 573 K with H-2 yield rate 214 mu mol g-cat(-1) s(-1), which is 150 K lower than that required for comparable performance with 1%Rh/CeO2. La doping also enhanced the stability by accelerating CH3COCH3 conversion and gave low CO selectivity due to the high water gas shift activity. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy characterizations indicate the formation of Ce-La solid solutions and oxygen vacancies. H-2 temperature-programmed reduction and thermo-gravimetric measurement results confirmed that the redox properties of Rh/CeO2 were greatly enhanced by La doping, which accelerated ethanol conversion, promoted H-2 yield, and maintained good long-term activity for the OSR reaction. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.