Abstract: Acrylic acid production has been greatly affected by the increasing shortage of petroleum，and it is particularly important to investigate how to produce acrylic acid from renewable resources. Lactic acid production by fermentation from renewable resources is a mature process，hence，dehydrating lactic acid to acrylic acid might be an effective alternative way for acrylic acid production. This paper provides a review on the main approaches of acrylic acid production with particular focus on the current research situation for lactic acid dehydration methods，prospects for acrylic acid production from lactic acid are also discussed.