MIGA presents first children's animated series focused on science and renewable energy

PRESS RELEASE from MIGA
May 16, 2024

(Machine translation of original release, issued in Spanish) 

The Millennium Institute for green ammonia as an energy vector - MIGA is developing an educational project consisting of a family-friendly animated series, whose contents focus on the world of science, addressing relevant topics such as energy transition, climate change, renewable energies and the potential of green ammonia to address this scenario.

The story is about Draco, an ammonia molecule that seeks to turn green to help decontaminate the planet and along this path he will meet new characters and live different adventures. One of the most striking elements of the series is its music, which is original by Pablo Ilabaca, former member of the band Chancho en Piedra and creator of the music for “31 Minutos.”

The launch event for “Draco el ammonia” brought together representatives of companies from different sectors associated with the use of ammonia, along with representatives from the Ministry of Energy and the National Research and Development Agency (ANID). The activity took place at the headquarters of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where the first chapter of the series was presented and Pablo Ilabaca played the songs that give life to “Draco” live.

Pamela Delgado, executive director of MIGA, highlighted the interest that scientific and environmental issues arouse among children, and the importance of reaching the little ones with this type of projects. “With 'Draco' we seek to expand the scope of action to everything that the energy transition means in general, because we believe that this series can be a contribution in providing knowledge and a value offer of what ammonia can become in the future, both for Chile and for the world. The proposal is didactic and very entertaining, focused on children, but dynamic and agile enough for adults to also enjoy this series,” the authority noted.

Meanwhile, Mauricio Maldonado, head of the Millennium Department and Frontier Scientific Initiatives of ANID, valued this initiative and the contribution made to the dissemination of science. “It seems very important to me that through these types of products we can disseminate topics that are so relevant and that, in general, are very technical. One of the great objectives of the Millennium Scientific Initiative is to disseminate all scientific knowledge to society through different channels, so that children and young people become interested in science and are also vectors of change, like ammonia is. Indian.

For his part, Pablo Ilabaca was delighted to collaborate again in the musicalization of a children's series and considers it very positive that music helps educate on technical and scientific topics. “I am very grateful to be part of this project, because apart from being entertaining, it is important for the entire world. Merging science and music is a very interesting experiment, I believe that music is also a science and what MIGA is practicing is something that is very stimulating to make songs, to create a universe and characters. Today the first chapter is presented, but the idea is to make many more chapters to explain this phenomenon,” said the musician.

“Draco el ammonia” is made in conjunction with the production company Felicidad Pública and Fluor Films, and is a pioneer in addressing scientific topics simultaneously and didactically. The first season will consist of six chapters that can be seen on MIGA's YouTube channel. Once the project is finished, its creators will seek to broadcast it on open television, this being the great objective in its dissemination.

MIGA is a unique scientific research center in Latin America and is funded by the Millennium Science Initiative. His team is dedicated to the work of producing ammonia sustainably from renewable energies to promote the energy transition and the development of a zero-carbon economy for Chile and the world. MIGA is made up of physicists, chemists, engineers and other professionals from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Universidad Austral and Universidad de Talca.