US-based startup claims to have made delicious butter using … CO2? Bill Gates-backed California startup Savor claims to have figured out a way to make dairyfree butter using a thermochemical process that builds fat molecules using carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and oxygen, according to The Guardian. The butter alternative emits less than 0.8g of CO2 equivalent per kg compared to traditional butter’s 16.9kg and uses less than a thousandth of water used by traditional agriculture.

What’s next? The main challenge is to lower the price to make the product affordable, which Gates expects should be easy seeing as the steps of the production process are already used in other industries, he said in a blog post. The dairy-free alternative — said to taste “like the real thing” — will not be available for sale until at least 2025 as Savor awaits regulatory and commercial approval, says chief executive Kathleen Alexander, the news outlet added. The company will also have to figure out how to appeal to the public with “synthetic fats,” Alexander added.

REMEMBER- The dairy industry is one of the most polluting in the world: Agrifood systems are responsible for up to one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions and are one of the primary reasons for biodiversity loss. Animal agriculture alone accounts for almost 20% of GHGs and 32% of methane emissions.

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