Using a quadrupole mass spectrometer we measured the activation energy of ethanol decomposition with various catalysts. In order to quantitatively evaluate the catalysts we subtracted their effect from that of the catalyst-free pyrolysis. As a result we derived the activation energies using iron, cobalt, nickel, and molybdenum catalysts. These metals are typical catalysts in carbon nanotube synthesis, with two of them usually mixed empirically. This empirical preparation and use of catalysts is consistent with our results. Among these catalysts, iron reduced the activation energy most. Conversely, cobalt achieved a reduction of only 0.3 eV compared to the catalyst-free reaction. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.