Bill Gates-backed startup makes butter out of thin air, here's how

A California-based startup, Savor, supported by Bill Gates, claims that its butter, made from carbon, tastes just as good as traditional dairy butter. Savor asserts that it has developed a complex method to convert carbon dioxide from the air into real fat.

This innovative process eliminates the need for animals, farmland, fertilizers, hormones, or antibiotics, according to the startup. Savor uses a thermochemical process to create fat that mimics the flavor of animal-derived butter.

The company's website explains, “We start with a source of carbon, like carbon dioxide, and use a little bit of heat and hydrogen to form chains which are then blended with oxygen from the air to make the fats and oils we know, love, and drool over.”

Savor highlights the environmental benefits of their product, stating, “That’s how we get rich, delightful ingredients without animal suffering, palm plantations, or dangerous chemicals. All in the most efficient, most resilient, least polluting way known to science.”

Benefits for the Planet
Savor emphasizes that its products will have a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to animal-based fats, as livestock is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Bill Gates, in a blog post, elaborated, “Each year, the world emits 51 billion tons of greenhouse gases—and the production of fats and oils from animals and plants makes up seven percent of that. To combat climate change, we need to get that number to zero.”

Gates explained that Savor’s method of creating butter by extracting carbon dioxide from the air and hydrogen from water does not emit greenhouse gases, uses no farmland, and requires only a fraction of the water used in traditional agriculture. “I’ve tasted Savor’s products, and I couldn’t believe I wasn’t eating real butter,” he wrote.

Currently, Savor's butter is not available for commercial sale as the startup is in the process of obtaining regulatory approval. “We are not expecting to be able to move forward with any kind of sales until at least 2025,” Savor CEO Kathleen Alexander told The Guardian.