Do renewable and nuclear energy enhance environmental quality in France? A new EKC approach with the load capacity factor

In this study, we test the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for France from 1977 to 2017. In this context, we analyze the effects of nuclear and renewable energy on the ecological footprint, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and load capacity factor using co-integration and causality tests with Fourier transforms. In addition to the traditional indicators of environmental degradation, we make an important contribution to the literature by testing for the first time the impact of nuclear energy on the load capacity factor. The results of our empirical analysis suggest that there is no inverted U-shaped relationship between CO2 emissions and income, but rather the EKC hypothesis for the load capacity factor. While nuclear energy reduces CO2 emissions and increases the load capacity factor, in other words, improves environmental quality, renewable energy has no long-term impact on environmental conditions. The findings point to the importance of nuclear energy in green sustainability.