From Detection toward Mitigation: A Critical Review of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Methane Emissions Reduction
Year: 2026
Type: review
Abstract: Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and a major contributor to near-term climate warming, yet emissions remain difficult to detect, quantify, and mitigate because they are spatially heterogeneous, temporally intermittent, and shaped by sector-specific measurement constraints. This review critically assesses artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) for methane monitoring and the translation of monitoring toward mitigation by synthesizing 63 studies published between 2018 and 2025, from which 93 model instances were coded across energy, agriculture/livestock, and waste management applications. We compare tree-based ensembles, classical machine learning methods, convolutional and recurrent neural networks, transformers, and hybrid/physics-guided architectures through a decision-oriented lens: data availability, validation type, uncertainty treatment, transferability, and operational relevance. Tree-based models remain attractive for structured predictors and interpretable driver ranking; deep learning dominates image- and video-based plume detection; and hybrid models are most useful when they fuse complementary sensors or enforce transport constraints. Across the reviewed evidence, AI/ML is most credible for screening and ranking large, persistent sources, while generalizable quantification of smaller, intermittent, or diffuse sources remains limited by wind uncertainty, small or proprietary training data sets, inconsistent metrics, and limited cross-region validation. Priorities for advancing AI-enabled methane mitigation include sector- and platform-specific benchmarks, calibrated uncertainty, physics-informed learning, explicit decision-support rules, and pilot demonstrations that measure avoided emissions rather than model accuracy alone.
Institution: University of Calgary
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Funder: Ministry of Environment
OpenAlex ID: W7207592142