Hydrogen production by ethanol steam reforming (SRE) was studied on zinc based catalysts with spinel-like structure. ZnM2O4 (M = Al, Co, Fe) mixed oxides were prepared by sol gel technique with citric acid and characterized by XRD, TPR-H-2, S-BET, TPD-NH3 and decomposition of cyclohexanol. The XRD patterns confirm presence of well defined spinel-like structure of prepared materials. The highest catalytic activity towards hydrogen production was found for zinc cobaltate: the hydrogen yield on this catalyst is 2.8 mol H-2/mol EtOH. The ZnO promoting the reduction of cobalt cations to Co-0 that is more active in SRE. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.