Alternatives for the usage of Oil? (English)

Very interesting things are happening on this globe these days: While we consume every day more oil and are using more of any other natural resources than the day before, some governments want to change things. While Sweden is ambitious to free themselves from their dependence of oil by 2020 (see here, in German), is even the oil-fan George W. Bush jr. looking for alternatives for his great United States of America (see here, also in German).

Oil is the blood of our highly developed civilisation

I am very happy that those governments are attaching more and more importance to the fact that our civilisation as it exists now is running out of its live-saving resource, but...there is one question remaining in my head (no, I am not concerned whether Bush means what he is saying or not, he is just another politician, so his words must probably not be taken too serious, but let's just take them as a motivation), what makes me think is that the debate about alternatives is mostly dealing with energy and gasoline.

Is talking about oil just dealing with gasonline and energy?

Those sectors are surely the most consuming ones, but still just look around you, yeah you are right! You had to use a lot of oil just to be able to read this text. Can I say most things? I think so, most things in our life are made of oil: The keyboard of your computer, or even your whole laptop; the plastic toys you've been playing with during your childhood; and even broader all those great things made of plastic (and other materials, which I am not aware of now) in our daily life.
This is a serious question: What are the alternatives on this area? Does anyone know? I cannot find any information concerning this issue.