On the other hand, there's nothing magical about petroleum that can't be synthesized, given enough energy (electricity from solar/wind works), and simple water/CO2/etc to provide the building blocks for long-chain hydrocarbons. It's even more straightforward to start from cellulose or plant sugars.

I agree that for things like aircraft, there's unlikely to ever be an electrical substitute for the energy density of organic fuel. But that could be done entirely from renewables if needed.