GM Tests Fuel Cell Power Generator — The same fuel cell technology the automakers are developing in hopes of producing pollution-free vehicles may also be the answer to preventing power blackouts, a General Motors Corp. executive said Tuesday. In a statement distributed to reporters at an industry conference here, Larry Burns, GM vice president for research and development planning, said for the past six months the automaker has been testing a stationary fuel cell-powered generator at its Rochester, N.Y. research facility. The fuel cell generator GM is testing extracts hydrogen from either natural gas, methane or gasoline. The hydrogen is then mixed with oxygen from the air and the fuel cell converts it to electricity.