Fossil fuels have established theirselves because of their high energy density and their global availability and form the basis of our daily mobility. The limited resources force us to experiment with alternative fuels and to invent new ways of getting around. An existing auxiliary power unit (APU) was powered with diesel and investigated if ethanol can be used as fuel. A reformer was set up on a testbed and experiments were performed with pure ethanol. The main variations were the air-fuel ratio, the recirculation rate of the anode exhaust gas and the power. The product gas was in each case examined for its components and it showed in certain areas of the catalytic partial oxidation a considerable hydrogen yield. When the load of the reformer changes soot formation was observed. Additionally it was investigated whether steam reforming with the existing set up is possible or whether further adjustments should be made. In this case ethanol was mixed in varying proportions with water and used as fuel. The results have been validated by a colleague using a simulation of the reformer and the entire APU in the program MathWorks Matlab/Simulink. Further it was examined whether the startburner of the APU can ignite the fuel with those high amounts of water in ethanol and whether it can still heat up the system to the required temperature. With closer examination and adequate improvement of the APU the efficiency can be increased.