Butter is one of the most widely used foods in kitchens around the world, but it comes with a steep environmental cost. Producing dairy butter requires cows, land, water, and energy, making it one of the highest-impact staples in the average diet. Now, a California startup called Savor, backed by Bill Gates, claims to have created a butter alternative made not from milk or plants, but from carbon dioxide. Using a thermochemical process that builds fat molecules directly from air and water, the company says it has replicated the taste and texture of traditional butter while cutting emissions and resource use by a wide margin.
The development comes at a time when pressure to reduce the environmental footprint of food production is higher than ever. The livestock industry alone accounts for nearly 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and dairy is a major part of that total. Alternatives to milk and cheese have grown in popularity, but butter has remained a tougher challenge because of its unique flavor and cooking qualities. If Savor’s version delivers what it promises, it could represent one of the most significant advances yet in the shift toward sustainable diets.
How Butter Can Be Made From Thin Air
A California-based startup called Savor, with backing from Bill Gates, is trying to reinvent how we think about butter. Instead of turning to cows or even crops, the company has developed a process that uses carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen to build fat molecules from scratch. This thermochemical method essentially reconstructs the same types of fat chains that naturally exist in dairy. What makes this approach different from plant-based spreads or margarine is that it doesn’t rely on ingredients that already mimic dairy fats—it creates them directly. That means the end result is chemically closer to what you’d find in cow’s milk butter, which gives it a stronger chance of delivering the rich taste and texture that consumers expect. In other words, this isn’t an imitation product cobbled together from oils, but a molecular replica designed to match butter at its most fundamental level.
The distinction is important because the main drawback of existing dairy alternatives has often been flavor and performance. Plant-based butters or spreads can work in some cases, but they rarely capture the full creaminess or cooking qualities of dairy fats. Savor’s method is designed to overcome that gap by producing fats that are, for all practical purposes, the same as those in butter. Early reports from informal taste tests—conducted with small groups—suggest that the product does deliver on that promise, tasting and performing like traditional butter. Larger, more rigorous panels will be conducted as the company moves toward scaling up production, but the early signals have generated interest precisely because so many substitutes on the market fall short in this respect.
Right now, the project is still in its early stages. Savor has not yet received regulatory approval to sell the product, and the company has stated that commercial availability is unlikely before 2025. That timeline reflects the complexity of both the technology and the regulatory process for introducing new food categories. Yet the idea itself highlights a significant shift in how food might be produced in the future. Rather than simply substituting crops like soy, oats, or nuts to create alternatives, this approach takes a more fundamental path by constructing food components directly from air and chemistry. If it succeeds, it would mark a move toward a radically new way of sourcing everyday staples—one that no longer depends on farmland, herds, or harvests but instead leans on engineering and science to generate the same end products.
Why Air Butter Could Be a Climate Game-Changer
The livestock industry is responsible for a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions, with the United Nations estimating that meat and dairy together account for roughly 14.5 percent of worldwide emissions. Traditional butter, in particular, has a heavy footprint because it requires large amounts of feed, water, and energy to produce. Each calorie of dairy butter carries an estimated climate footprint of about 2.4 grams of CO2 equivalent. Savor’s new process has the potential to shrink that number significantly, down to less than 0.8 grams per calorie. That is more than a two-thirds reduction in climate impact, a change that could scale dramatically if adopted widely.
The environmental benefit goes beyond greenhouse gases. Because the production method does not depend on farmland, there is no need to clear forests or disrupt ecosystems to grow feed crops or pasture land for cows. Gates has emphasized that the process uses less than a thousandth of the water that conventional dairy farming does. For a world struggling with water scarcity and soil degradation, that reduction is as important as the emissions savings. By removing the need for herds, the process also sidesteps issues such as methane emissions from cattle, which are a particularly potent contributor to climate change.
The promise of lab-made butter and similar innovations is that they could decouple everyday food staples from agriculture altogether. Instead of tying consumption to the availability of arable land, rainfall, and livestock management, fats and oils could be manufactured with predictable efficiency in facilities designed to minimize resource use. This is not a minor adjustment in supply chains—it represents a radical rethink of how humanity can meet its dietary needs while reducing environmental damage. The challenge is moving from potential to practice, as scaling such production methods from labs to global markets is neither cheap nor simple.
Will Consumers Accept It?
Even if the science and sustainability case is strong, food ultimately succeeds or fails in the court of public opinion. Taste, price, and trust are the three pillars that determine whether a product makes it past early adopters and into mainstream kitchens. History shows how difficult it is to persuade consumers to switch from familiar staples like dairy. Plant-based milks, for example, have gained ground, but alternatives to butter and cheese often struggle because people notice differences in flavor, texture, and performance when cooking or baking. Savor is betting that by building butter fats molecule by molecule, it can bypass those weaknesses and deliver something that feels indistinguishable from the real thing.
However, skepticism is inevitable. The idea of eating “lab-made fats” will not appeal to everyone, no matter how safe or sustainable they are proven to be. There is still a cultural attachment to foods being “natural,” even though most industrial agriculture already relies on processes that are far removed from traditional farming. Overcoming that perception may take time, marketing, and endorsements from trusted voices in science and gastronomy. Bill Gates’ support provides visibility, but ordinary consumers will want evidence from chefs, dietitians, and regulators before fully embracing such products.
Price is another factor that cannot be ignored. For any new technology, the early costs are high, and consumers will not pay significantly more for butter unless they are highly motivated by sustainability concerns. The broader population tends to prioritize convenience and affordability, which means Savor’s success depends on whether the company can eventually produce at scale and drive costs down. Without that, the product risks being confined to niche markets rather than contributing meaningfully to global environmental goals.
How Butter Can Be Made From Thin Air
For individuals who care about reducing their environmental footprint today, the arrival of lab-made butter is still years away. That does not mean people are powerless in the meantime. Cutting down on dairy consumption, even in small ways, can make a measurable difference. Using plant-based spreads for toast, swapping in olive oil or avocado oil for cooking, or experimenting with non-dairy cheeses are all immediate steps that lower reliance on high-impact animal products. While these may not perfectly replicate the taste of butter, they are already widely available and often less expensive than dairy.
Cooking habits can also help reduce environmental impact without sacrificing satisfaction. Many recipes that call for large amounts of butter can be adjusted by blending in healthier fats or reducing quantities without losing flavor. For baking, a mix of plant oils and fruit purees like applesauce can cut down on butter use while maintaining texture. On the savory side, seasoning foods more creatively can make up for the richness that butter traditionally provides. These are small shifts, but they add up over time, especially when adopted across households.
Another practical approach is supporting food innovation more broadly. Consumers can help bring down costs and encourage adoption by being early testers of new products as they reach the market. Signing up for updates from companies like Savor, trying pilot launches, and giving honest feedback helps shape the industry. Even before lab-made butter hits shelves, choosing brands that commit to lower-carbon production or companies experimenting with alternative fats sends a signal that demand exists for more sustainable options.
What You Can Do While Waiting for Lab-Made Butter
Lab-made butter is not expected to hit the market before 2025, but there are meaningful steps individuals can take right now to cut back on high-impact dairy without compromising health or flavor. Research consistently shows that reducing intake of saturated fats from butter and replacing them with unsaturated fats can lower risks of cardiovascular disease. For example, a large Harvard study published in Circulation found that swapping just 5 percent of calories from saturated fat with polyunsaturated fats reduced the risk of heart disease by about 25 percent. That means substituting olive oil or canola oil in cooking and baking is not just environmentally smart but also beneficial for long-term health.
For everyday use, it helps to think of butter as a flavor enhancer rather than a staple fat. Instead of spreading thick layers on bread or vegetables, use smaller amounts and balance them with herbs, spices, or citrus for richness. In baking, half of the butter in many recipes can be replaced with unsaturated oils or even yogurt to preserve texture while reducing saturated fat content. These substitutions lower the environmental load while also aligning with dietary guidelines that recommend limiting saturated fat to less than 10 percent of daily calories.
Supporting sustainable food companies is another impactful action. Consumer demand is one of the strongest signals that drives investment and innovation. Choosing plant-based butters, dairy alternatives, or products from companies working on low-carbon food technologies contributes to building the market conditions that allow new solutions like air-made butter to thrive. Even small purchases add up, especially when combined across households. By being an early adopter of alternatives and voicing support for innovation, consumers help close the gap between lab-scale experiments and products that can be produced at affordable prices.
