Would You Eat Butter from Thin Air?

Growing up in the “country” I remember taking a field trip to a farm as a kid. We were given a churn and told to keep mixing milk while we heard about the four stomachs a cow has. By the time they were done talking, we had churned butter.

With the latest science innovations you now might be able to buy butter that’s actually made from thin air - and help solve climate change at the same time.

This idea is not new - amid the food shortages of World War II, German chemists successfully synthesized a coal-based margarine that was consumed by German citizens and troops.

Oil You Can Eat Made From Co2

A California-based startup called Savor has created an animal-free butter from carbon dioxide that it claims tastes just like the dairy version. They use a machine that pulls carbon dioxide from the air and combines it with hydrogen and oxygen to create fat synthetically.

This fat is then turned into butter by adding water, an emulsifier, beta-carotene for color and rosemary oil for flavor.

"Can’t we just eat the fossil fuels?” Ian McKay had been asking this question for a while, and I answered it in the way that any of us standard-issue humans might: “Ian, that is a terrible idea.” - Savor Co-Founder

Sun Bear Biofuture is working on a cocoa butter alternative and also eyeing one for palm oil. Sun Bear utilizes the precision fermentation process, which resembles the conventional process of brewing beer. The technology has already been applied by startups to make a wide range of products — from cow-free cheese and ice cream to turmeric-like powder. Even better they are trying to save the sun bear - my favorite animal when I worked at the zoo as an undergrad.

There are fewer than 1,000 Sun Bears remaining, largely due to habitat loss from deforestation for agriculture. We are using biology and modern innovation to make a better future for all, including you and the sun bear.

Green-On uses CO2, water, and electricity to create saturated fats. The company aims to provide a sustainable alternative to tropical oils and fats, which are often grown in the tropics and can have health and environmental concerns.

Green-On manufacturing process

Benefits of Artificial Fats

Alot of the differential impact between synthetic and agricultural foods comes down to land use: we currently clear lands for pasture and crops, and the release of stored carbon that results from this land conversion is enormous.

So far, humans have converted about 50% of the habitable land on the planet for agricultural use. The net release of carbon that was stored in former forests and soils into the atmosphere has already increased global temperatures by about 1-2 °C

According to a Nature Sustainability report, the synthetic fat’s carbon footprint is less than 0.8 grams of CO2 equivalent per calorie. On the other hand, real unsalted butter with 80 percent fat produces 2.4 grams of CO2 equivalent per calorie.