A thermal management system for an object comprising: a plurality of thermoelectric elements and electricity transport medium. Heat energy that is generated or absorbed by the object is converted by some of said thermoelectric elements to electrical energy. This energy is transferred to some other of said thermoelectric elements, working in heat pumping mode, in order to realize a desired thermal distribution over said object. The thermal management system optionally comprises a controller that controls the mode of operation of the thermoelectric elements. Each thermoelectric element in any portion of time is configured to be in one of (1) an electricity generation mode, (2) a heat pumping mode, (3) a heat flow blocking mode or (4) a heat flow transferring mode.