<p>Green manufacturing and cleaner production are crucial in manufacturing processes, particularly concerning environmental concerns. Difficult-to-cut materials present challenges for traditional machining and electrical discharge machining (EDM) including poor sustainability, high energy consumption, and environmental pollution. This paper presents a novel electrical arc machining (EAM) method for machining difficult-to-cut materials. The conventional oil-based dielectric is replaced with air to minimize waste disposal issues and environmental impacts. The primary objective is to investigate the effects of workpiece polarity on titanium alloy removal in EAM, aiming to balance machining efficiency and minimize pollution. Single-pulse experiments are conducted on the Ti6Al4V alloy to validate the feasibility of EAM. An experimental analysis explores the influence of electrical parameters, such as workpiece polarity, discharge current, and duration, on crater geometry. Furthermore, the discharge characteristics and specific energy consumption (SEC) related to the polarity effects on material removal from the discharge craters are discussed comparatively. Positive polarity exhibits superior material removal, resulting in larger and deeper craters, a narrower heat-affected zone (HAZ), and higher energy efficiency. In contrast, negative polarity results in shallower, smaller craters with a broader HAZ due to less efficient energy conversion. The heat transfer capacity of the arc plasma column in the axial and circumferential directions is limited in negative polarity machining. Positive polarity machining exhibits higher energy efficiency, as indicated by significantly lower SEC values and improved energy utilization. The findings demonstrate that the polarity of the workpiece significantly influences material removal behavior and discharge characteristics. Moreover, the EAM approach shows potential for addressing sustainability and productivity objectives in difficult-to-cut materials machining.</p>