The hydrogen-based renewable energy resource base is sufficient to meet several times the present world energy demand. This paper analyzes the drivers promoting hydrogen-based renewable energy utilization, focusing on a group of 32 countries by applying panel data techniques. The pooled ordinary least square estimator and fixed effect estimator are employed for comparison. Grey relational analysis is used to explore the relationships at a national level between renewable energy development and its influencing factors. The main results over our time span indicate that: (1) GDP per capita is a significantly positive contributor to renewable energy consumption, while oil price does not present a strong relationship in the use of renewables; (2) social awareness about climate change and concerns for energy security is not enough to motivate the switch from traditional to renewable energy sources; (3) the role of urbanization in renewable energy consumption relies on different stages of the urbanization process, resulting in opposite trends in renewable energy development between developing and developed countries. The results show that the market mechanism is not entirely responsible for encouraging the use of renewables and the role of climate change and energy security concerns in renewables use should be enhanced. By analyzing the results, policy implications are provided for the sustainable development of renewable energy. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.