Convertible Debt - Additional Information (Detail)			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended
	Apr. 29, 2016	Apr. 02, 2014 shares	Jan. 24, 2013 USD ($) shares $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) shares	Apr. 01, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest expense													$ 13,545,000	$ 14,160,000	$ 11,711,000
Convertible debt exchanged													30,575,000	0	20,147,000
Debt conversion expense					$ 4,743,000	$ 3,242,000	$ 1,785,000	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	9,770,000	0	1,766,000
Debt conversion expense													$ 9,770,000	$ 0	1,766,000
Solazyme Bunge JV
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest costs capitalized															$ 600,000
Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Upon a fundamental change, Company to pay a percentage of the principal amount													100.00%
Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes | Early Conversion Payment
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of common shares issued upon early conversion of notes (in shares) | shares													9,022,954	0	2,743,475
Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes | 2018 Notes, due February 1, 2018
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount of debt			$ 125,000,000.0		32,485,000				61,632,000				$ 32,485,000	$ 61,632,000
Convertible senior subordinated notes, interest rate (percent)			6.00%
Conversion rate of convertible note into shares of common stock | shares			121.1240
Principal amount of convertible notes, denominator			$ 1,000
Conversion price per share | $ / shares			$ 8.26
Aggregate amount of debt															$ 17,500,000
Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes | 2018 Notes, due February 1, 2018 | Early Conversion Payment
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of convertible notes, denominator			$ 1,000
Conversion price of per principal amount (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 83.33
Number of common shares issued upon early conversion of notes (in shares) | shares															2,409,964
Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes | 2019 Notes, due October 1, 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate principal amount of debt					$ 148,073,000				$ 149,500,000				148,073,000	$ 149,500,000		$ 149,500,000.0
Convertible senior subordinated notes, interest rate (percent)						5.00%										5.00%
Conversion rate of convertible note into shares of common stock | shares		75.7576
Principal amount of convertible notes, denominator																$ 1,000
Conversion price per share | $ / shares																$ 13.20
Conversion price of per principal amount (in dollars per share) | $ / shares																$ 83.33
Aggregate amount of debt													$ 7,600,000
Inducement Shares
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Inducement shares (in shares) | shares													4,550,208
Inducement Shares | 2018 Notes, due February 1, 2018
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Inducement shares (in shares) | shares															160,670
Not Including Inducement Shares | Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes | 2018 Notes, due February 1, 2018
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of common shares issued upon early conversion of notes (in shares) | shares															333,511
Aggregate amount of debt															$ 2,600,000
Standby Letters of Credit | Silicon Valley Bank | SVB SLOC
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Letter of credit facility							$ 12,900,000.0
Collateral fee percentage	1.50%
Bank Confirmation | Bank of Nova Scotia | SVB SLOC
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Collateral fee percentage	0.70%
Solazyme Brasil Oleos Renovaveis E Bioprdutos Ltda. [Member] | Standby Letters of Credit | Itaú Unibanco S.A. | SVB SLOC
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Collateral fee percentage	1.99%
Scenario, Forecast | Convertible Senior Subordinated Notes | 2019 Notes, due October 1, 2019
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt conversion expense				$ 2,500,000