Partial oxidation of ethanol with air was carried out in a pulsed discharge plasma reactor at low temperature and atmospheric pressure. Effects of O-2:ethanol ratio, ethanol flow rate, and discharge current were investigated. H-2 and CO are the major products (>86%). Increases of O-2:ethanol ratio promote CO formation at the expense of C-2 hydrocarbons. H-2 selectivity and H-2 + CO selectivity are maximized at O-2:ethanol ratios of 0.3 and 0.5, respectively. Increases of feed flow rate accompanied by current increases allow the reactor to operate with high throughput. The LHV energy efficiency is increased with increasing feed flow rate, reaching 85% at high ethanol flow rates, conditions that also increase throughput. In contrast to catalytic and homogenous reactions, not all O-2 is consumed at high 02:ethanol ratio for the low temperature plasma reaction. A radical reaction pathway of H abstraction from -OH and the alpha-H in ethanol to form CH3CHO followed by C-C scission is proposed. The produced hydrogen rich gas can be potentially used in fuel cells and engines. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.