You should tell him that oil is basically a chemical battery for biological solar panels.

That energy came from the sun too, just it was a long time ago and a tree probably converted into cellulose that went undigested for millennia until it was geologically transformed into fossil fuels.

Tell him it's fine if he's a hippie and wants to wait around a million years for his yuppie artisanal solar derrivitives, but you're a man and you just want your power NOW