Ethanol-water mixtures were reformed directly into H-2-rich gas without extra heat source with conversion rates of 69.8% and 88.0% by nonthermal arc plasma and plasma-catalytic reactors, respectively. The plasma reactor consists of a Laval nozzle electrode and a central electrode. The ethanol, water and air mixtures were mixed by a spray nozzle, and then introduced into the Laval nozzle. In terms of energy efficiency, the optimal reforming condition was determined to be O/C similar to 0.5 and S/C similar to 1.0 with an ethanol input rate of similar to 0.10 g s(-1). Furthermore, it is also found that applying Ni/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst just at the downstream of the discharge region contributed to a better conversion extent and a higher hydrogen production rate, while the power consumption increased slightly, thus the specific energy required for hydrogen production reduced from 68.5 to 40.1 kJ mol(-1) at O/C = 0.44, S/C = 1.28 and inlet ethanol = 0.10 g s(-1). This reforming technology has promising prospects not only for low-cost hydrogen generation and efficiency improvement for inner combustion engine, but also for many other potential chemical applications, such as nanophase material preparation and solar fuel cell manufacturing. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.