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TiO₂ nanotubes (TiO₂Nt) were modified with zirconium oxide and used as photoanode-driven to oxidize benzyl alcohol concomitantly to the reduction of carbon dioxide using a gas diffusion layer modified with cuprous oxide (GDL-Cu₂O) as cathode. ZrO₂ was deposited by a simple wet chemical method onto TiO₂Nt and presented higher photocurrents when irradiated by UV–Vis irradiation. Under optimized conditions, 0.1 mol L⁻¹ Na₂SO₄ pH 7 and 0.1 mol L⁻¹ KHCO₃ pH 7 supporting electrolytes in the anodic and cathodic compartments, respectively, the degradation of benzyl alcohol reached 41% at the TiO₂Nt electrode and 68% at TiO₂Nt-ZrO₂ under UV–Vis irradiation and bias potential of 1.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Concomitantly, the electrons driven to the cathode side saturated with CO₂ promoted generation of around 3.8 mmol L⁻¹ of methanol and 0.96 mmol L⁻¹ of ethanol under TiO₂Nt-ZrO₂. So, our …