The California company Savor has made a butter prototype using only carbon dioxide and hydrogen. And this is just the beginning; they are currently working on alternatives for milk, cheese, meat, and tropical oils.

“We start with a carbon source, such as carbon dioxide, and use a little heat and hydrogen to form chains that are then mixed with oxygen from the air to make the fats and oils we know and love. This is how we obtain rich and delicious ingredients without animal suffering, palm plantations, or dangerous chemicals. All in the most effective, resistant, and least polluting way known to science,” Savor ensures.

One of the project’s investors is Bill Gates, who says that this butter is easy to produce and scale up, “but convincing people to switch from butter and other dairy products to experimental foods will remain a challenge for the foreseeable future.” The process emits no greenhouse gases, uses no arable land, and uses less than one-thousandth of the water of traditional agriculture. “And most importantly, it tastes great, just like the real thing, because chemically it is,” he adds.

Photo: Ailin Zhang