The energy security concern and rapidly diminishing fossil fuel resources demand the development of renewable and economically attractive fuel for reciprocating engines.Methanol is a promising renewable alternative fuel.Numerous studies have been carried out to explore the various aspects of the utilization of methanol in compression ignition(CI) engine.This review paper presents a detailed analysis of the effect of methanol on performance,combustion,and emission (NOx,CO,HC,and soot) characteristics of con-ventional CI-engine along with dual-fuel combustion mode.This study focuses on meth-anol utilization in dual-fuel mode,which is an advanced engine combustion mode.First,methanol production and solubility issues of methanol in diesel are briefly discussed.This study discusses the soot and nano-particle emission from the methanol fueled CI-engine,which is one of the main concerns in the current emission legislation.It was found that the utilization of methanol in Cl-engine has the potential to improve the performance and simultaneously with a significant reduction in NOx,CO,soot,and nano-particle emissions in comparison to neat diesel operation.However,unbumt HC emission reduces for methanol-diesel blended fuel operation whereas HC emissions are higher for methanol-diesel dual-fuel operation.