Abstract The metal elements are classified into four categories: main group, Ⅷ, lanthanides and other d regions. The role of metal elements in the utilization of hydrogen energy, including production, storage and hydrogen fuel cells is reviewed. The incomplete statistics of the existing research results show that among the 65 metal elements in the periodic table of elements, except radioactive metal elements, 46 metal elements take part in the process of hydrogen energy utilization in the form of elementary substances, alloys, oxides, salts and other forms, including as carriers, reactants, catalysts, etc. Among them, d-block elements represented by platinum group and light lanthanon represented by lanthanum are most widely used.