Different energy and exergy concepts and methods are presented and applied to a Swedish pulp and paper mill. Flow diagrams show that the exergy content is mostly much less than the energy content of the flows. The largest exergy losses appear in the boilers. Heating processes are highly exergy inefficient. A limited Life Cycle Exergy Analysis (LCEA) shows that the exergy output amounts to over 3 times the spent exergy as non-sustainable resources. By replacing the present use of non-sustainable resources, mostly fuel oil, the mill could move towards a truly sustainable process. Copyright (C) 2005 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.