Debt - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 Solazyme Bunge JV [Member]	Dec. 17, 2013 Solazyme Bunge JV [Member]	Jun. 30, 2010 Purchased equipment [Member] Promissory note [Member]	May 31, 2011 Manufacturing Facility [Member] t l	May 31, 2011 Manufacturing Facility [Member] Promissory note [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Silicon Valley bank loan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Silicon Valley bank loan [Member]	May 11, 2011 Silicon Valley bank loan [Member]	May 11, 2011 Silicon Valley bank loan [Member] Term loan [Member]	May 11, 2011 Silicon Valley bank loan [Member] Facility [Member]	Jan. 31, 2013 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes [Member] Early Conversion Payment [Member]	Jan. 31, 2013 Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes [Member] Early Conversion Payment [Member]	Mar. 26, 2013 HSBC Revolving Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 HSBC Revolving Facility [Member]	May 31, 2013 HSBC Revolving Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 HSBC Revolving Facility [Member] U.S. Dollar	Dec. 31, 2013 HSBC Revolving Facility [Member] Foreign Currency
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest costs incurred related to the Company's total debt	$ 6,300,000	$ 800,000	$ 600,000
Interest costs capitalized	0	300,000	0	1,100,000
Amount borrowed						265,000		5,500,000				15,000,000
Final payment due						Jan. 01, 2015
Debt instrument, fixed interest rate						9.00%								6.00%
Credit facility maximum borrowing											20,000,000	15,000,000	5,000,000					30,000,000		35,000,000
Outstanding balance under the credit facility					1,700,000					11,200,000								10,400,000	10,400,000
Line of credit facility maturity date									Mar. 26, 2013										Mar. 26, 2015
Fermenters production facility							128,000
Annual oil production capacity							1,820
Annual oil production capacity, in units							2,000,000
Purchase price of production facility							11,500,000
First payment due date of principal								2012-03
Second payment due date of principal								2013-02
Imputed interest rate								3.25%
Amount of discount	4,610,000							300,000						5,300,000
Aggregate principal amount of debt														125,000,000
Interest payment, beginning date														Aug. 01, 2013
Maturity date of debt				Apr. 02, 2014										Feb. 01, 2018
Net proceeds from Note offering														119,200,000
Debt issuance costs														500,000				200,000
Conversion rate of convertible note into shares of common stock														121.1240
Principal amount of convertible notes, denominator														1,000			1,000
Conversion price of per share														$ 8.26
Conversion price of per principal amount																	$ 83.33
Convertible debt	44,218,000		128,374,000												43,200,000
Number of common shares issued upon early conversion of notes																5,541,597
Upon a fundamental change, Company to pay a percentage of the principal amount														100.00%
Remaining Outstanding under HSBC facility																			9,600,000
Cash and unrestricted cash equivalents																		$ 35,000,000
Additional percent of aggregate letter of credit under revolving facility																		110.00%
Commitment fee																			2.50%
Outstanding balance under the credit facility																			2.00%		105.00%	110.00%
Interest rate for total debt outstanding																			2.70%
Weighted average interest rate on outstanding debt	5.60%	4.60%