Summary of Carrying Amounts of Assets and Fair Value of Liabilities Included in Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet and Maximum Loss Exposure in VIE (Parenthetical) (Detail) (Solazyme Bunge JV [Member])	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Bank guarantees USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Bank guarantees BRL	Dec. 31, 2013 Non cancelable purchase commitments USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Non cancelable purchase commitments BRL	Dec. 31, 2013 Company Payment Guarantee USD ($)	Dec. 17, 2013 Company Payment Guarantee USD ($)
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Maximum Exposure to Loss	$ 67,702,000	$ 15,000,000	35,400,000	$ 21,300,000	50,400,000
Amount of guarantee payments						$ 900,000	$ 900,000