Butter made from air instead of cows? A California-based startup claims to have worked out a complex process that eliminates the need for the animals while making its dairy-free alternative taste just as good.

用空气代替奶牛制成的黄油？一家位于加利福尼亚的初创公司声称已经研究出了一种复杂工艺，该工艺无需奶牛就能制作出与乳制品一样美味的替代品。



Savor, backed by the Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, has been experimenting with creating dairy-free alternatives to ice-cream, cheese, and milk by utilising a thermo chemical process that allows it to build fat molecules, creating chains of carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen. The company has now announced a new animal-free butter alternative.

由微软亿万富翁比尔·盖茨支持的Savor公司一直在试验利用热化学工艺制作无乳制品的冰淇淋、奶酪和牛奶替代品，该工艺能够构建脂肪分子，生成二氧化碳、氢气和氧气的链条。该公司现已宣布推出一种新的无动物脂肪黄油替代品。

Reducing meat and dairy consumption is one of the key ways that humanity can reduce its environmental impact, as livestock production is a significant source of greenhouse gases, and Savor says its products will have a significantly lower carbon footprint than animal-based ones. The "butter" could potentially come in at less than 0.8g CO2 equivalent per calorie. The standard climate footprint of real unsalted butter with 80% fat is approximately 2.4g CO2 equivalent per calorie.

减少肉类和乳制品的消费是人类减少对环境影响的关键途径之一， 因为畜牧业是温室气体的重要来源， 而Savor公司表示，其产品的碳足迹将显著低于动物性产品。这种“黄油”每卡路里的二氧化碳当量可能低于0.8克。而标准气候下，脂肪含量为80%的不含盐真实黄油的每卡路里二氧化碳当量约为2.4克。

Kathleen Alexander, Savor's chief executive, said: "We are currently pre-commercial and working through regulatory approval to be able to sell our butter. We are not expecting to be able to move forward with any kind of sales until at least 2025."

Savor公司的首席执行官凯瑟琳·亚历山大表示：“我们目前还处于商业化之前的阶段，正在通过监管审批，以便能够销售我们的黄油。我们预计至少要到2025年才能开始进行任何形式的销售。”

Meat and dairy alternatives have become more and more popular in recent years, but some fall short in terms of flavour. Savor says the flavour of its butter is more exact.

近年来，肉类和乳制品替代品越来越受欢迎，但一些替代品在口味上仍有所欠缺。Savor公司表示，其黄油的口味更加纯正。

"So far, we had informal taste panels with tens of people," Alexander said. "We expect to perform a more formal panel as part of our commercialization and scale-up efforts."

“到目前为止，我们已与非正式品尝小组中的几十人合作过，”亚历山大说。“我们预计将在商业化和扩大规模的过程中进行更正式的品尝测试。”

The question now is whether buyers will take to such synthetic fats. Getting people to give up their favourite dairy and meat items for more "experimental" foods may pose a challenge.

现在的问题是，消费者是否会接受这种人造脂肪。让人们放弃他们喜爱的乳制品和肉类，转而选择更多“实验性”食品可能会是一个挑战。

Advocating for the initiative in an online blog post, Gates wrote: "The idea of switching to lab-made fats and oils may seem strange at first. But their potential to significantly reduce our carbon footprint is immense. By harnessing proven technologies and processes, we get one step closer to achieving our climate goals.

盖茨在一篇网络博客文章中倡导这一倡议时写道：“一开始，改用实验室制造的脂肪和油脂的想法可能看起来很奇怪。但它们减少我们碳足迹的潜力是巨大的。通过利用成熟的技术和工艺，我们离实现气候目标又近了一步。

"The process doesn't release any greenhouse gases, and it uses no farmland and less than a thousandth of the water that traditional agriculture does. And most important, it tastes really good – like the real thing, because chemically it is."

“该过程不会释放任何温室气体，不使用农田，且用水量不到传统农业的千分之一。最重要的是，它的味道非常好，和真的一样，因为从化学角度来看，它就是真的。”

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock industry, which encompasses all dairy and meat agricultural farming, accounts for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

据联合国粮食及农业组织称， 畜牧业（包括所有乳制品和肉类农业养殖）占全球温室气体排放量的14.5%。

This article was amended on 16 July 2024 to provide an approximate per-calorie, rather than per-kg, figure for the standard climate footprint (CO2 equivalent) of real unsalted butter with 80% fat.

本文于2024年7月16日修订，将标准气候足迹（CO2当量）的数值由每千克改为每卡路里， 适用于脂肪含量为80%的真实无盐黄油。