The extra cost of going down the e-biofuel route instead of compensating fossil fuels with bio-CDR would be manageable. To replace 400 TWh/a gas demand and 1200 TWh/a oil demand in Europe with e-biomethanol rather than bio-CDR: (400-200) EUR/tCO2 * 80 MtCO2/a + (240-200) EUR/tCO2 * 300 MtCO2/a = 28 bnEUR/a. This is around 0.1% of future European GDP; it is in a similar range to current European subsidies for first generation biofuels.

If advanced e-biofuels are the more scaleable option, then they have to be produced everywhere, including in Europe, because supply is scarce. It would have several other advantages: replacing farmer's income streams as traditional 1st generation biofuels are phased out; and anchoring value creation in rural areas for decades to come.