Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions). The first question will come from Laurence Alexander with Jefferies & Company.
Amanda Sigouin - Jefferies & Company
Hi this is Amanda Sigouin and I’m in for Laurence. First question, along the recently announced agreement with Value Prior to Pulping for the C5 technology, could you give us any details around the timeline for this project.
Carlos Riva
Well the project is essentially one where we are looking to assess the effectiveness of our technology in that and we’ll be commencing the testing of a variety of samples in the near-term and I think it’s hard to be specific on how long it’s going to take to have a full assessment but I would say over the next several months.
Amanda Sigouin - Jefferies & Company
Okay. Then do you think that there is other opportunities for this sort for bolt-on technology to existing industrial processes and are there any other kind of examples you could think of where this could be used.
Carlos Riva
Well this is a particularly focused one on the pulp and paper industry. There suggestions have been made that also within the brewing industry obviously, within the corn ethanol industry there is a lot of effort to by others to look at putting cellulosic bolt-ons. So these and other areas are ones that represent opportunities for future assessment, but right now we think that Value Prior to Pulping opportunity is the one, which probably has the nearest or the best near-term potential.
Amanda Sigouin - Jefferies & Company
Okay. Then just one more on the DOE's decision and if we were to see a term sheet signed in Q1 which sounds like that's the soonest, when would you expect the first commercial facility to be kind of up and running, at say a 70% or so operating rate, what would be the timeline to get there? Thanks.
Carlos Riva
We have continued to have early 2012 as the commercial operations date for the first commercial unit and a term sheet in the first quarter of next year with DOE would continue to support that timeframe.
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Next we'll hear from David Woodburn with ThinkEquity.
David Woodburn - ThinkEquity
Thanks and nice quarter, guys. Carlos, how do you anticipate the progress with the DOE loan application and the due diligence in the term sheet being communicated? Is the next thing we're going to hear a press release from Verenium on reaching a term sheet or is there something else there?
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