In this study, Pt-promoted Co-x/ZrO2 catalysts (including 1.5 wt% Pt and Co loading of 0.75, 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, 9.0, 12, 24 and 48 wt%, respectively) were prepared by the incipient wet impregnation method for hydrogen production by steam reforming of ethanol (SRE). Evaluation of catalytic activities and products distribution toward the SRE reaction were carried out in a fixed-bed reactor with 100 mg of catalyst under an H2O/EtOH molar ratio of 13.0 and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 22,000 h(-1). The results revealed that the optimal loading of cobalt could enhance the capacities of catalytic performance and C-C scission, further raised the yield of hydrogen (Y-H2) and lowered the deposited carbon, CH4 and CO side-products due to the combination effect of cobalt and platinum. The Pt1.5Co12/ZrO2 catalyst exhibited superiority in the SRE reaction, where complete conversion of ethanol was achieved at 275 degrees C. The (Y-H2) approached 4.95, and only minor CO (<2%), CH4 (<4%), and carbon deposition (<0.5%) were detected at 500 degrees C. In addition, the ethanol conversion still remained complete, and the selectivity of hydrogen exceeded 70% during a 116 h time-on-stream test under the same condition. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.