A company in Batavia, Illinois is making butter in a way you've never seen before. No animals, no plants, no oils; this butter is made from carbon.

A California-based biotechnology startup has officially launched the world’s first commercially available butter made entirely from carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen, eliminating the need for traditional agriculture or animal farming. Savor, backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates through his Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund, announced the commercial release of its animal- and plant-free butter after three years of development.

The revolutionary product uses a proprietary thermochemical process that transforms carbon dioxide captured from the air, hydrogen from water, and methane into fat molecules chemically identical to those found in dairy butter. According to the company, the process creates fatty acids by heating these gases under controlled temperature and pressure conditions, then combining them with glycerol to form triglycerides.

  • Ice@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    5 days ago

    Whilst yes, uplifting, I also have a certain inherent skepticism to artificial facsimiles. Too often it’s an unwelcome discovery.

    For instance about a year ago we found a new product in the cheese aisle, slightly cheaper than regular gouda and called “gaudina” - turns out, not actually cheese but instead made from milk powder, palm oil and other assorted stuff.

    Until somebody proves through proper trials and reviews that the products have no statistically significant difference in health outcomes, I’ll be hesitant.

    • Soup@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      5 days ago

      “Other assorted stuff”? The palm oil probably isn’t great, of course it’s simple existence is causing the intentional destruction of important forests and it, and the people who use it, can fuck right off, but otherwise I dunno, that doesn’t sound like the end of the world.