Light olefins such as ethylene, propylene, and butenes serve as the basic building blocks from which most polymers and chemical intermediates are made today. Production of these light olefins from the corresponding paraffins either by steam cracking or dehydrogenation generates substantial GHG emissions. Exelus has developed a Selective Oxygen Carrier (SOC) which when used with their ExOlt catalyst selectively oxidizes hydrogen to produce heat. This significantly reduces GHG emissions for olefin production while improving economic viability.