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Fatty alcohols are widely used for various applications and are found in products ranging from detergents to cosmetics and cleaning agents Currently, over 3 million tonnes of fatty alcohols are produced per year from bio-based and petroleum-based feedstocks through chemical conversion and synthetic processes However, the environmental impact of current fatty alcohol production processes has become a major concern, and several bioprocesses have emerged as alternative methods for synthesis These biological processes are environmentally friendly due to their metal-free nature, low consumption of energy, and mild reaction conditions This review overviews the current status of fatty alcohol production ? both chemical and biological approaches Our focus is on biological synthesis approaches using biocatalysis and metabolic engineering due to their proven efficacy Potential downstream processing for these bioprocesses is also presented ? 2020 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd