Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is the third most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and methane, and contributes about 6% to the greenhouse effect. Nitrous oxide is a minor component of the atmosphere, and it is a thousand times less than carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Nevertheless, it is much more potent than CO 2 and methane, owing to its long stay in the atmosphere of approximately 120 yr and the high global warming potential (GWP) of 298 times that of Implications: N 2 O may arise as an unwanted by-product of nitrogen oxide (NO x ) abatement systems, in particular selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR). Since it is applied in the cement plants, N 2 O emission from cement industry is evaluated, with both FTIR and NDIR instrument. Several considerations emerged from the results. First of all, the emission from this industrial sector is not negligible, and for that reason N 2 O concentration should be regulated; another observation is that the reference method based on the NDIR technique is not as selective as FTIR could be.