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gucci-on-fleek 17 hours ago

The majority of the oil currently produced is used in things other than consumer vehicles [0] [1] [2], so switching to EVs wouldn't completely solve the problem (although it would make a huge difference). Plus, ~20% of oil is used to make chemicals [1] [2], and there aren't really any feasible alternatives here, so we're going to continue to need lots of oil for the foreseeable future (but if we stop burning the other 80% of it, then that 20% should get a lot cheaper, and fully-domestic production might be possible).

[0]: https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-produc...

[1]: https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/oil-demand-by...

[2]: https://www.statista.com/statistics/307194/top-oil-consuming...

bryanlarsen 17 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Consumer vehicles are the single biggest use, though, and transportation in general is 62% by your first link.

The biggest non-consumer transportation usage is trucks, and I expect them to electrify relatively quickly. Trucking is a low margin business and fuel is their biggest expense.

> there aren't really any feasible alternatives here

It's not feasible yet, but I really hope that carbon sequestration comes into play here. Plastic lasts a really long time, so turning CO2 into plastic is one way to go carbon negative.

danaris 14 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There are already ways to make some of the chemicals (largely plastics) being made from petroleum derivatives using renewable sources, like vegetable oils. I don't pretend to know much about the details—at any level—so I don't know if it's feasible to come up with bio-based replacements for all the derivatives if the economics shift to support it, but it's at least something worth looking into.

fragmede 17 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

it's used to make plastic, which has its own set of pros and cons.