Styrene is an important global commodity chemical feedstock for rubber and plastics products. State-of-the-art catalytic dehydrogenation (DH) of ethylbenzene suffers from high energy consumption and equilibrium conversion limitations, resulting in a substantial carbon footprint. We reported a chemical looping oxidative dehydrogenation (CL-ODH) approach, which offers superior emissions performance and enhanced product yields. In this process, a multifunctional oxygen carrier, also known as redox catalyst, acts as both a heterogeneous dehydrogenation catalyst and a selective hydrogen combustion material. This facilitates CL-ODH to auto-thermally convert ethylbenzene to styrene with up to 85% single-pass conversion and >90% selectivity under industrially compatible conditions. This research conducts a comprehensive technoeconomic comparison between conventional and CL-ODH technologies. Using ASPEN Plus® software, we modelled and analyzed DH and CL-ODH process schemes to determine energy consumption, CO2 emissions, capital cost, operating cost, and estimated gross margin. Sensitivity analyses were performed on critical parameters of CL-ODH, namely, single-pass conversion, selective hydrogen combustion (SHC) and steam-to-oil ratio (S/O). The sensitivity analyses showed an advantage versus state-of-the-art, even with conservative catalyst performance assumptions. Our analysis revealed that the CL-ODH scheme can reduce energy consumption by 45% and CO2 emissions by 40%. Additionally, estimated capital and operating costs indicated a 35% increase in gross margin from DH to CL-ODH. Our findings demonstrate that CL-ODH of ethylbenzene can achieve the “practical minimum energy consumption” for styrene production published by the US Department of Energy. Our experimental studies also reveal that the same strategy can be applied to efficiently convert other alkylbenzene molecules.