A startup backed by Bill Gates has developed a revolutionary way to make dairy-free butter using nothing but hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The company is called Savor, and the idea was based on the fact that fats are all made up of chains of hydrogen and carbon atoms. So Savor started looking for ways to use them to make butter, cheese, milk, and ice cream that are completely dairy-free.
The result is a product that is very similar in taste and texture to the original, but does not contain dairy, making it more accessible to people who may have trouble consuming dairy. Another benefit of Savor’s product is that it leaves a much smaller carbon footprint than real animal fat.
Gates explained in a blog post how the company makes the dairy-free butter, and even detailed how they managed to do so without relying on plants or animals in any way. The final process they’ve developed allows them to extract carbon dioxide from the air and hydrogen from water. They then heat it and oxidize it.
This causes the fatty acids to separate and form fat. Unfortunately, there is still a long way to go before this unique butter is available in every store. This is because the company is still in what is known as a “pre-commercial” phase, where it is trying to get regulatory approval. However, it expects to hopefully move forward and start selling it by 2025 at the latest.
The video above explains the dairy-free butter in a little more detail. Gates says it’s similar to butter and tastes like the real thing because it’s made using the same process. Taste is also a very important part of the process, as people are already very cautious about trying lab-made food alternatives, especially because of the many chemicals some of them might contain..
