Bill Gates-Backed Startup Creates Naturally-Tasting Butter from Air

Bill Gates-backed startup, Savor, is pioneering dairy-free butter to reduce carbon footprint, and eliminate climate change.

The California-based startup has successfully created dairy-free butter from the air using a thermochemical process.

Savor said its products will have a significantly lower carbon footprint than animal-based ones as the “butter” comes in at less than 0.8g CO2 equivalent per kg. In contrast, real unsalted butter with 80% fat has a standard climate footprint of 16.9kg CO2 equivalent per kg.

Savor’s chief executive, Kathleen Alexander said to the media, “We are currently pre-commercial and working through regulatory approval to sell our butter. We are not expecting to be able to move forward with any kind of sales until at least 2025. So far, we had informal taste panels with tens of people. We expect to perform a more formal panel as part of our commercialisation and scale-up efforts.”

Bill Gates supports the initiative to switch to lab-made fats and oils, and their potential to reduce our carbon footprint. 

He wrote that the process has minimal environmental impact and tastes just like the real thing.

Bill Gates wrote in his blog post, “The idea of switching to lab-made fats and oils may seem strange at first. But their potential to significantly reduce our carbon footprint is immense. By harnessing proven technologies and processes, we get one step closer to achieving our climate goals."

He added, “The process doesn’t release any greenhouse gases, and it uses no farmland and less than a thousandth of the water that traditional agriculture does. And most important, it tastes really good – like the real thing, because chemically it is.”

About Savor:

Founded in 2022 by Henrik Bennetsen, Ian Salmon McKay, and Kathleen Alexander, Savor produces animal-free fats, like butter, in a lab setting for various meat and dairy products like ice cream, cheese, etc. Savor's real fats claim to deliver full flavour without compromising performance, environmental impact, or price.

Social Media Reaction:

Despite the innovation, the idea is getting mixed reactions from social media users.

One user wrote, "Meanwhile he flies his private jet everywhere, total hypocrite and threat to democracy."

Another user commented, "Butter is amazing as is. It’s perfectly healthy and much much much better for you than margarine or other fake butters."

A third user replied, "It's a tough call, whether to trust a committed eugenicist who has funded deaths, injuries & infertility around the world, invested in meat made from cancer cells - which cause cancer. Anyone would think this billionaire eugenicist was trying to reduce the global population...."