In this paper the steam reforming of bioalcohols over Ni and Pt catalysts supported on bare Al2O3 and La2O3 and CeO2-modified Al2O3 to produce H2 was studied. Catalytic activity results showed that the glycerine and the intermediate liquid products may hinder the ethanol adsorption on metal active sites of the catalysts, especially at temperatures below 773 K. In fact, ethanol conversion was lower than glycerine conversion in the steam reforming reaction at low temperatures. H2 chemisorption revealed that La2O3 doping of the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst improved the metal dispersion providing a better behaviour to the Ni/Al2O3-O2 catalyst towards H2 production. In the case of Pt catalysts, the good reducibility and the H2 spillover effect provided to the Pt/Al2O3-O1 catalyst the capacity to produce higher H2 yields.The comparison of Pt and Ni catalyst activities showed that the Pt catalysts produced lower H2 yields. This can be attributed to the lower Pt loading as compared to the metal content of the Ni based catalysts.