Ethylene production is one of the most carbon-intensive chemical processes worldwide. The traditional industrial production method, steam cracking, is an endothermic reaction that takes place at very high temperatures. Oxidative dehydrogenation, where the hydrogen byproduct of cracking is converted to water to produce heat is widely studied as an alternative to cracking. However, limited product selectivity and cost associated with oxygen separation have hindered commercial adoption. Here we present a chemical looping oxidative dehydrogenation (CL-ODH) approach. We have previously developed several families of chemical looping catalysts that are capable of converting ethane or light naphtha into ethylene with high energy efficiency. Both air and CO2 can be used as an oxidant for the regeneration step. The high 2nd law efficiency of the chemical looping system, combined with high conversions facilitated by the oxidative process, can greatly reduce the energy demand of the system, giving close to an order-of-magnitude reduction in CO2 emissions. Key to CL-ODH is the selection of the oxygen carrier/redox catalyst. One effective strategy is to impregnate the metal oxide surface with a molten salt promotor to suppress deep oxidation of the hydrocarbons. In this work, we present a systematic study of molten salt promoters and elucidate the redox catalyst design principles. Tungstates, ditungstates, molybdates, vanadates, and carbonates are discussed. Oxygen transport through the molten salt is also evaluated. We show that a molten salt shell with an oxygen carrier core is a generalized and effective strategy for CL-ODH catalysts.