TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Catalyst: The complex metal oxide is impregnated with at least one steam-methane reforming catalyst that comprises a metal selected from platinum or nickel, or nickel oxide or cobalt oxide. The steam-hydrocarbon reforming catalyst comprises nickel, ruthenium, osmium, rhodium, palladium, platinum, iridium and/or their oxides.Preferred Components: The oxygen gas source is selected from air, oxygen and/or oxygen depleted air.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Process: The method is carried out at 400-900degreesC and a pressure of 1-100 atmospheres. The molar ratio of steam to at least one hydrocarbon is 1:1-20:1, and is less than 150% of the theoretical amount. The complex metal catalyst is mixed with at least one steam-methane reforming catalyst prior to use in the process. The at least one hydrocarbon is 1-20C aliphatic hydrocarbons (preferably methane obtained as a component of natural gas), and molar ratio of steam to methane is 1.3:3-4:1. The method further involves: reacting the spent mixed metal oxide and an oxygen source gas in a regeneration step carried out at less than or equal to100 - higher than the reaction temperature; to regenerate the complex mixed metal oxide. The regeneration temperature is 450-900degreesC. The method involves:(1) providing a reactor containing the complex metal oxide (I) and the reforming catalyst (II);(2) introducing a feed gas containing at least one hydrocarbon, steam and hydrogen (up to 20 vol.%) (preferably pre-reformed natural gas), into the reactor in a production step, and reacting them in the presence of the complex metal oxide (I) (preferably Ca2MnFeO5) and the steam reforming catalyst (II) (preferably a catalyst comprising nickel and alumina), under conditions to form hydrogen and spent complex metal oxide, and withdrawing from the reactor a product gas comprising hydrogen;(3) terminating the introduction of the at least one hydrocarbon, depressurizing the reactor by withdrawing a depressurization gas from the reactor, and purging the reactor with a purge gas to displace combustible components from the reactor and withdrawing the purge gas effluent from the reactor;(4) regenerating the reactor in a regeneration step in a regeneration step by reacting the spent mixed metal oxide (I) and an oxygen source gas under conditions to regenerate the complexed mixed metal oxide (I);(5) optionally purging the reactor with a purge gas;(6) pressurizing the reactor by introducing the feed gas containing at least one hydrocarbon and steam; and(7) repeating the steps (ii) - (v) in a cyclic manner. Preferred Definitions:    x,y = 0;    x3,y3 = 1-5.    SPECIFIC COMPOUNDS - Ca2MnFeO5, Ca2MnFeO4, Ca2Co2O5, Ca2Mn2O5 and MgCaFeMnO5 are specifically claimed as the complex metal oxide catalyst.    EXAMPLE - Performance of a combination of complex metal oxide, Ca2Co2O5 and a steam-methane reforming catalyst was 1% Pt/ZrO2, was evaluated in H2 synthesis process as follows. The Ca2Co2O5 (6.033 g), and 1% Pt/ZrO2 (1.0548 g), were physically blended and sieved using a 14-20 mesh (1.4 mm - 850 microns) prior to each use. The reagents were then transferred to the reactor chamber, and the system was purged thoroughly with argon. The temperature of the reactor and heat traces was set at 650degreesC and 170degreesC respectively, and the temperature of the steam generator was set at 250degreesC. Following temperature stabilization, a temperature logger was turned on. After 10 minutes the water supply pump was turned on, followed by the methane flow. The flow rates (sccm) for methane, steam and argon were 40, 120 and 80 respectively, at a total pressure of about 30 Psi. GC analysis of the gases exiting the reactor was started and repeated at 2 minute intervals throughout each runs. Upon completion of data collection, the methane and steam lines were switched off. The reactor system was purged using argon gas for several hours until the gas chromatography (GC) analysis showed that hydrogen concentration was minimal. At that time, the temperature of the reactor was raised to 700degreesC. Following temperature stabilization, the argon gas was switched off and a supply of 20% oxygen/argon turned on to start the regeneration process. The regeneration process took from 4-5 hours. A plot of rate of gas production for hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and the rate of methane feed consumption versus time on stream, was plotted. The plot showed that the reaction process was divided into 4 regions. The first region, which lasted from the time of initiation of the reaction to 15 minutes after initiation, was a period, which related generally to the combustion of methane. The reaction at this region was highly exothermic, as demonstrated qualitatively by a temperature rise. The second region of the reaction was from about 15-35 minutes. In this region, an average methane to hydrogen conversion of about 36% was achieved. The ratio of hydrogen produced to methane consumed increased to about 3.75 in this region, while the amount of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide produced were negligible. Excluding unreacted methane, the product gas was 98% hydrogen. In the second region, the reaction was moderately exothermic. In the third region, the amount of carbon dioxide produced quickly increased. The ratio of hydrogen produced to methane consumed was about 3.71, but the product gas had a lower purity of hydrogen. Carbon monoxide was not detected by GC at this stage and appeared only in the fourth region. The fourth region started after about 55 minutes from initiation. In this region the reaction gradually changed from exothermic to endothermic in this region as expected for a conventional steam-methane reforming reaction. After the completion of this synthesis reaction, the system was flushed with argon and the complex metal oxide was regenerated with 20% oxygen/argon. A plot of rate of production of carbon dioxide versus time during this process was plotted. The rate of production of carbon dioxide increased gradually initially, but the rate increased quickly after about 70 minutes due to an exothermic reaction at this point, as qualitatively indicated by a temperature rise. After 100 minutes, the rate of carbon dioxide production began to diminish. A total of 16.88 mmol of carbon dioxide was produced in 395 minutes. Carbon dioxide released during the purging stage was not collected. Comparatively, the steam-methane reformation was carried out using mixtures of calcium oxide (CaO), and nickel oxide (NiO) with Pt/ZrO2 steam-methane reforming catalyst. A mixtures of CaO/NiO at metal ratio of 1:1 (CaNiO2) was prepared. Solutions of 0.5 M Ca(NO3)2, and 0.5 M Ni(NO3)2 were co-precipitated with a 1 M NaHCO3 as follows. The precursors were heated at 750degreesC for 10 hours under oxygen flow. The mixtures were shown by powder x-ray diffraction as physical mixtures of the oxides, not ternary complex metal oxides. A steam-methane reforming reaction was carried out using the (CaNiO2) mixture and 1 % Pt/ZrO2. The rates of production of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane versus time on stream, were plotted. As in the reaction catalyzed by Ca2Co2O5 described in the test procedure, the reaction process could be subdivided into several regions. From the temperature profile of the reaction, the reaction was shown to exhibit multiple exothermic and endothermic peaks. Between 10 - 30 minutes after initiation, a region of substantial production of H2 with little production of carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide by-products was observed. The regeneration reaction of the spent CaNiO2 was carried out at 700degreesC under 20% oxygen/argon. The carbon dioxide production rate and the temperature changes with time on stream were recorded. In accordance with previous results, an initial exothermic reaction was observed, due to the oxidation of nickel metal to nickel oxide. This reaction yielded 41.8 kcal per mole of nickel. This exothermic event, however, only resulted in a relatively small increase in the rate of carbon dioxide production, which quickly reverted back to the initial rate. Consequently, even after more than 8 hours of heating there was still a substantial rate of CO2 production (~0.035 mmol/minute), thus the CaNiO2 was still not completely regenerated.