WELLESLEY, Mass. — The global market for carbon capture and storage technologies is expected to top $236 billion in 2012 as governments around the globe struggle to reduce emissions and secure stable energy sources in an era of climate change and rising oil and gas prices, according to a new report.

"Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies" from BCC Research predicts the overall CCS market will grow by 21.8 percent annually. Within the sector, pre-combustion carbon capture will enjoy the most robust growth as demand rises for clean and cheap energy sources that are insulated from oil and gas price volatility.

It now costs about $50 to capture and store a metric ton of carbon dioxide. The report estimates it will cost $15 trillion over the next 100 years to build the CCS infrastructure capable of capturing more than 10 billion metric tons of CO2 annually as needed by 2025.

Pre-combustion CCS, projected by BCC to reach nearly $125 billion in 2012, can help generate energy in a way that emits less carbon dioxide. Cheap and plentiful coal can be gasified to extract a synthetic natural gas that is burned in an integrated gasification combined cycle plant. Configured with post-combustion technologies, where CO2 is chemically stripped from the gases, coal-generated power could produce near-zero emissions.

Post-combustion CCS, however, is the most mature of the three CCS technologies, although it has typically been used in the natural gas industry to fight pipeline corrosion. The third CCS category is oxy-fuel combustion CCS, which represents the smallest portion of CCS market at a projected $2 billion in 2012.