Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail)	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 USD ($)	Nov. 30, 2011 Solazyme Roquette Joint Venture Maximum	Jan. 23, 2013 Archer Daniels Midland Company Subsequent Event	Jan. 31, 2013 Archer Daniels Midland Company Subsequent Event	Dec. 31, 2012 California Office Buildings sqft	Apr. 30, 2012 Brazil Office Building USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2012 Brazil Office Building BRL	Dec. 31, 2012 Brazil Office Building	Dec. 31, 2012 Auto Lease Agreement USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Auto Lease Agreement BRL
Commitment And Contingencies [Line Items]
Area of building leased							96,000
Lease expiration date							Feb. 01, 2015			Apr. 01, 2016
Deferred liability	$ 700,000	$ 500,000
Term of lease										Five years
Beginning date of lease										Apr. 01, 2011
Lease rent per month									29,500
Increase Operating Lease Monthly Rental Payment								15,000	30,500
Lease cancellation penalty percentage of remaining lease value											50.00%	50.00%
Remaining cancellable lease value											170,000	350,000
Fees paid in form of shares for use and operation of Clinton Facility					347,483
Warrant granted to purchase shares of common stock						500,000
Vesting period of warrant granted to purchase shares of common stock						5 years
Common stock at an exercise price						7.17
Warrant expiry date						2019-01
Rent expenses	2,800,000	2,000,000	1,900,000
Non-cancelable purchase obligations	$ 400,000
Percentage of loan guaranteed repayment				50.00%