The role of process planning as an enabler for cost efficient and environmentally benign CNC machining is investigated in the paper. Specific energy is used as the principal indicator of energy efficient machining and different methods to calculate and estimate this is exemplified and discussed. The interrelation between process planning decisions and production outcome is sketched and process capability can be considered as one factor of green machining. A correlation between total machining cost and total energy use was shown for an experimental case. However, to generalise conclusions, the importance of having reliable data during process planning to make effective decisions should not be underestimated.