Imagine biting into a piece of toast slathered in warm, golden butter—but here’s the twist: that butter wasn’t made by a cow, or even a plant. It was made from the air you breathe. It sounds like science fiction, but it’s not. A California-based startup called Savor is now making real, tasty butter from carbon dioxide, using technology that could flip the entire food industry on its head. And yes, Bill Gates has already tried it.
How Do You Make Fat from Air?
Savor has unlocked a method to build dietary fats from the ground up—or more accurately, from the atmosphere down. Their process starts with carbon dioxide, green hydrogen, and sometimes methane. Under heat and pressure, these gases transform into fatty acids, which are then turned into triglycerides—the molecules that make up butter, tallow, and oils.
The process mimics how early Earth formed fatty acids at hydrothermal vents deep in the ocean. According to Savor’s co-founder and CEO, Kathleen Alexander, those extreme environments—where hot gases met water under pressure—were the inspiration for this innovative approach. Only now, it’s being done in a lab.
Once the fat is made, the team blends it with water, natural emulsifiers, beta-carotene for colour, and rosemary oil for flavour. The result? Butter that looks, melts, and tastes like the real thing.
Why the Planet Desperately Needs This
Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 19.6 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Palm oil, often used in plant-based fats, causes widespread deforestation. At the same time, agriculture consumes half of the planet’s habitable land, yet converts less than 1 percent of solar energy into food via photosynthesis.
Savor’s lab-grown butter bypasses all that. It produces less than 0.8 grams of CO₂ equivalent per kilocalorie, compared to about 2.4 grams for regular butter and over 1.5 grams for palm oil. Even more impressively, the process uses less than one-thousandth the water required by traditional farming.
By removing the need for cows or palm plantations, Savor’s fats could help reduce emissions, protect forests, and free up land for conservation—all while keeping toast buttery.
Does It Taste Like the Real Thing?
Yes, according to everyone who has tried it—including Bill Gates. After spreading it on bread and trying it with a burger, Gates said he “couldn’t believe” it wasn’t real butter. The startup has run informal taste panels and says its product behaves just like dairy-based butter in baking and cooking.
The key lies in molecular precision. Savor doesn’t just make generic fat—they tune each batch to behave exactly like specific animal fats. For example, they can recreate the subtle differences between grass-fed and corn-fed beef tallow, adjusting melting points and mouthfeel to suit different recipes.
This level of control gives Savor an edge over plant-based alternatives like coconut oil or margarine, which often fail to capture the richness and function of real dairy fats.
Big Backers, Bigger Plans
Savor is no tiny experiment. Backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate fund spearheaded by Bill Gates, the company has built a 25,000-square-foot pilot plant in Batavia, Illinois. It has achieved self-affirmed GRAS (Generally Recognised As Safe) status in the United States, meaning its products are legally approved for sale.
The company plans to expand its lineup to include not just butter, but also milk, cheese, ice cream, and cooking oils—even replacements for palm and coconut oil. With these, they aim to serve food manufacturers, restaurants, and potentially even astronauts, thanks to the process’s high efficiency and portability.
Alexander said the real innovation lies not just in how the fats are made, but in how they’re formulated to match or exceed the performance of traditional fats.
The Road Ahead
Despite the breakthroughs, Savor still faces hurdles. Changing consumer habits won’t be easy. People are cautious about food made in labs, especially something as personal as butter. And there’s the matter of price. Livestock farming is still cheaper in many parts of the world.
But if the company can match price with performance, it could spark a radical shift in global food systems—one where butter comes from thin air, not cows.
