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Fire Barrel
Hot Blooded Desert Rose The Fire Barrel is a ferocactus known for its unique brilliant red bloom. It is remarkably drought-tolerant, making it perfect for the Karoo’s dry weather conditions.
Did You Know?
Although their main purpose is for defence, the red pigments on the cactus’ spine also help shade the plant and redirect water during a rain.
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Solar Panel
4MW of Clean Energy This is the “heart” of the flag. This solar field will have the ability to provide power to 4000 homes. One third of the solar field will also serve as a canopy for a tourism precinct, comprising a conference venue, boutique guest lodge, rental space for micro enterprise development, training facilities and commercial space—including the parking.
Did You Know?
This will be the first commercial scale solar field to harvest rainwater that will be channeled to an underground reservoir, in order to ensure that the giant flag is water independent.
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White Road
Your Path to the Flag This is where you get to experience the Giant Flag up close. This white pathway, forming the backbone of the site, allows you to tour the various sections of our Giant Flag.
Did You Know?
The Flag will be an example of a low-carbon economy ‘smart-grid’, using municipal services as a back up but managing all waste, water and power on the site itself.
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Blue Dan
Mini Agave This plant, sometimes affectionately referred to as the ‘Blue Butterfly’ by avid gardeners, has a unique blue-grey hue and are known to have the potential as an effective bioenergy crop. In the case of the Giant Flag, however, there will be no bioprocessing of our plants—the primary purpose is to bind the soil, reintroduce nutrients into this denuded tract of land, and create the colour blue of course!
Did You Know?
Agave's ability to grow in naturally water-limited environments could help to reduce the food vs fuel trade-off. We’re calling our mini-Agave the Blue Dan, in honour of the late ethnobotanist Dan Lieberman who died in a car accident on the outskirts of Graaff-Reinet.
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Golden Barrel
Grandma’s Pin Cushion The Golden Barrel cactus (or its more amusing name ‘Mother-in-Law’s Cushion’) is one of the more popular cacti in cultivation, becoming increasingly used as an architectural accent plant in contemporary garden design.
Did You Know?
Although the golden barrel prefers sunny spots, it can survive for surprisingly long periods of time in the dark.
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Spekboom
The Carbon Muncher The Spekboom plant is an indigenous succulent that grows wild in the Eastern Cape. It has an amazing capacity to offset carbon- in fact it's one of the most effective on the planet!
Did You Know?
At least four tons of carbon a year would be captured by each hectare of Spekboom. Spekboom could play a valuable part in turning back the tide of climate change.
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