This paper demonstrates the suitability of a new environmentally friendly pitch, obtained from anthracene oil, for the preparation of isotropic carbon fibres. The pitch exhibits an adequate thermal behaviour and it is free of solid particles. Green carbon fibres were prepared by means of a melt-spinning process with no filtering step, and subsequent stabilisation and carbonisation. For the optimisation of the melt-spinning process, the influence of the spinning temperature, extrusion pressure, spinneret hole size, winding speed and the interrelationship of these factors upon the microstructure and diameter of the fibres was studied. High winding speeds (250 cm s(-1)), in combination with a large spinneret hole size (500 pm) and low extrusion pressures (1 bar), led to high quality isotropic carbon fibres with diameters as low as similar to 15 mu m and a tensile strength of >1100 MPa which fulfil the requirements for their application as standard isotropic carbon fibres. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.