We use mineral oils, as found in natural deposits, for various purposes. Cooking, lubrication, manufacturing, and fuel are some of the most important.
Oil as a fuel is probably the most important use, but luckily, it may be the easiest to eliminate.
When used as an energy source oil is really nothing more than a convenient battery. A battery that came charged but a battery nonetheless.
This is not a new idea, but rather, one that I think is lost on a good number of people.
We have never completed a transition away from oil and natural gas for home heating.
It will be a few decades before that transition is done. We should try to accelerate this effort.
The same is true of oil as a transportation fuel. We can see the beginnings of an effort to go to electric hybrids or straight electric cars. This effort should be accelerated. Time is of the essence.