It is clear from an examination of global oil supply and resource development that alternative sources of fuel will be required to satisfy ever increasing energy demands. The production of microalgal based bio-fuels presents a unique opportunity to create sustainable fuels while also, when paired to an industrial facility, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and recovering energy through the use of 'waste' heat contained in cooling water and carbon rich off gas streams.

In this thesis the potential for pairing a microalgal bio-fuel production facility with the Xstrata Nickel Sudbury Smelter, located in Falconbridge, Ontario, Canada will be examined. Heat transfer calculations were completed to determine if sufficient energy can be recovered to allow for year round operation of a micro algae facility in a climactically unsuitable area such as Northern Ontario. An evaluation of production levels from a proposed facility was also done to determine if the quantity of bio-fuels produced could significantly off-set diesel use in a typical large scale underground mining operation.

The results of this analysis show that the potential exists to operate a large scale facility in a climactically unsuitable environment through the recovery of heat and carbon from waste streams. The analysis also shows that with further development of heat recovery processes discussed in this thesis the potential bio-fuel production from the facility could be significantly increased to off-set traditional fuel use in underground operations.