this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2025
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Butter made from carbon tastes like the real thing, gets backing from Bill Gates (www.cbsnews.com)
submitted 3 days ago by Gsus4@feddit.nl to c/technology@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/34272214

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.

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[–] dogslayeggs@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (3 children)

While I think this is pretty amazing science stuff, the writing is terrible. Here is the progression of the story as written:

They made butter from carbon...

Well, it's actually made from carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen...

OK, it's actually made from carbon dioxide, hydrogen, oxygen, and methane...

Well, no, it's actually made from carbon dioxide, hydrogen, oxygen, methane, and glycerol...

Wait, hang on, it's actually made from carbon dioxide, hydrogen, oxygen, methane, glycerol, natural flavor, and lecithin...

Now, the source of glycerol is in question, because they say this butter is both animal and plant-free. Glycerol can be made synthetically, but it's WAY more expensive to do it. Also, I'm not seeing any way to create lecithin without plants. They never say what the "natural flavor" is.

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They never say what the "natural flavor" is.

A reminder that "natural flavor" doesn't mean healthier or even something you might want over the artificially created flavors. It just means it comes from a natural source and is not lab created.

Castoreum, sometimes used for vanilla and raspberry flavoring, comes from beaver anal secretions. That would be labelled under a "natural flavor" and you'd never be told more than that.

I'll take the artificial stuff any day just on principle there.

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