A work plate arrangement including a work plate and a hot plate, the hot plate being inserted in a recess of the work plate. An evanescent optical field is generated when light is confined within the interior of an optical element such as a surface waveguide, a tapered microfiber, or a prism. Isolated nucleic acid molecules, vectors, and recombinant host cells expressing an alcohol-forming acyl-ACP reductase, and systems for producing fatty alcohols via an acyl-CoA-independent pathway, are also provided.