‘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,’ Bill Gates explained in his blog.

A California-based startup backed by billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has claimed that they are making butter using a complex process that does not require the use of milk or any other dairy product, The Guardian reported. Savor creates butter with chains of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen, and claims that it tastes “like the real thing”.

The startup has been experimenting with creating diary-free alternatives to ice-cream, cheese, and milk by a thermochemical process that allows it to develop fat molecules using gases.

Why switch to dairy-free alternatives?

According to the UN, the livestock industry accounts for 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and reducing meat and dairy consumption is one of the crucial ways to reduce its environmental impact. Savor stated that its products will have a significantly lower carbon footprint than animal-based ones.

Real butter has a carbon footprint of 16.9kg CO2 equivalent per kg while that created by Savor has a carbon footprint of less than 0.8g CO2 equivalent per kg, The Guardian reported.

Explaining the switch in a blogpost, Bill Gates wrote: “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.

“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.”

The Savor-made butter, however, won’t be available in the markets until at least 2025. Kathleen Alexander, Savor’s chief executive, told the publication: “We are currently pre-commercial and working through regulatory approval to be able to sell our butter. We are not expecting to be able to move forward with any kind of sales until at least 2025.”

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