Mike Maudsley, chief executive officer of enfinium, told The Yorkshire Post of his ambitious vision for the Skelton Grange Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility which is due to open in 2025 and process around 410,000 tonnes of non-recyclable rubbish each year – creating enough energy to power 100,000 homes.

It is one of two new enfinium plants being built with the other in the Midlands. The company’s current four existing locations include Ferrybridge 1 and 2 EfW facilities.

The Skelton Grange project will involve more than 400 construction workers in a scheme being delivered by Hitachi Zosen Inova. The new plant on the site of a former coal-fired power station will ultimately create 40 permanent jobs.

But Mr Maudsley believes that the site has the potential to play an even greater role in the region’s green economy by pursuing policies such as creating electrolytic hydrogen.

Mr Maudsley, who is originally from Halifax and was previously group operations director at Drax, added that in parallel to ambitions for a carbon capture plant at Ferrybridge he hopes a similar facility could be built at Skelton Grange in the coming years.

Carbon capture works by capturing emissions from industrial processes and transporting it underground into geological formations. It is becoming an increasingly important part in net zero planning but there have been questions about how feasible it is to deliver at scale.

Mr Maudsley said he believes it would be possible at the site but delivering such a plant would cost in the region of £200m to £300m and require several years of additional construction.

He said the new Leeds plant presents a major opportunity for reducing carbon emissions in West Yorkshire, which has set a target of reaching net zero by 2038.

"Carbon capture is very important for us in West Yorkshire. Ultimately there is a lot of emitters of CO2. Here when we turn waste into energy and combust that waste, 50 per cent of that is zero carbon already, it is biogenic. If we can capture all that 400,000 tonnes of carbon we can take West Yorkshire negative in emissions. We obviously need to pipe that to the coast and put it in the North Sea somewhere but ultimately it will be saved for many centuries.”

He said there are several potential options for how carbon captured at the sites could be disposed of – including the extension of a proposed pipeline due to run from businesses such as Drax and Phillips 66 in the east of the region. The pipeline is due to take emissions out to the North Sea.

But he added that consideration is also being given to the possibility of transporting the captured CO2 by train or potentially even barge to the coast.

"We have the simple option of a pipeline. But the timescales of the pipeline are unknown so are looking at other options. There are rail opportunities and another one which is a bit more optimistic is to look at the potential of could we barge out the CO2 through the Aire Calder Navigation.

"If everything went in our favour by 2030 we should be in a position to be removing CO2.

"We have to be part of a solution for West Yorkshire’s 2038 net zero plan.

"I’m ambitious that we want to lead the way, leading by example and showing carbon capture can be implemented here. The sooner we get support and infrastructure locked in, we can start delivering projects.”

Inside Skelton Grange: Carbon capture vision for new £500m Leeds energy-from-waste site revealed