For warmth and light, and the active formation of life by plants, we require the energy received from the Sun. Conduction is the way heat travels through an object. When an object is heated, it will share its heat energy with everything around it until everything is at the same temperature. This is entropy - a gradual dispersement of everything to equality everywhere. If something hot is touching something less hot, heat energy will be transferred by conduction .
Different materials conduct heat at different rates.
Metals conduct heat well. The warmed gas or liquid is moved away from the Earth's surface. Convection works well for our planet, with water and wind currents spreading heat from the equatorial regions into the temperate and polar zones. Solar radiational energy, after being absorbed by a dark pot in a solar oven, is transmitted by conduction and convection to cook food. Some materials do not conduct heat well, and are known as thermal insulators .