I’m going to assume based on your question that the correct answer would be through consumption. The phrasing of the question is a little weird. Basically, think of the food chain. Very bottom you have plants which absorb energy from the sun through photosynthesis. Then said plant gets eaten by an animal. However only 10% of energy is gained when something is consumed.
At each tropic level 90% of the energy that would be gained is lost. Energy can be stored in vacuoles and fat depending on the organism.