The development of a high performance and low cost catalyst is an important contribution to clean hydrogen production via the catalytic steam reforming of renewable bio-oil. Solid waste coal ash, which contains SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3 and many alkali and alkaline earth metal oxides, was selected as a superior support for a Ni-based catalyst. The chemical composition and textural structures of the ash and the Ni/Ash catalysts were systematically characterized. Acetic acid and phenol were selected as two typical bio-oil model compounds to test the catalyst activity and stability. The conversion of acetic acid and phenol reached as much as 98.4% and 83.5%, respectively, at 700 degrees C. It is shown that the performance of the Ni/Ash catalyst was comparable with other commercial Ni-based steam reforming catalysts. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.