Ethanol steam reforming over various catalysts was studied to identify the best conditions for selective CH4 production. In the sequence of catalyzed reactions, H-2 production was followed by reduction of CO and CO2 to CH4. The compositions of the product gases obtained over Ru/CeO2 and Ru/SiO2 were close to the chemical equilibrium composition at 673 K. However, the product gas compositions obtained over Ru catalysts and Ru-based alloy catalysts were far from the chemical equilibrium composition at 623 K. Ethanol steam reforming by means of a two-stage catalytic process that involved ethanol C-C bond cleavage over Ru-Pt/SiO2 and Pd/Al2O3 in the first stage and reduction of CO and CO2 to CH4 over Ru/Al2O3 in the second stage was conducted at 623 K. The product gas compositions obtained over Ru-Pt/SiO2+Ru/Al2O3 and Pd/Al2O3+Ru/Al2O3 were close to the chemical equilibrium composition at 623 K. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.