Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended						0 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2013 Archer Daniels Midland Extension Warrant	Feb. 28, 2013 Brazilian Development Bank USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2013 Brazilian Development Bank BRL	Dec. 17, 2013 Solazyme Bunge JV	Mar. 31, 2014 Solazyme Bunge JV USD ($)	May 31, 2011 Solazyme Bunge JV	Dec. 18, 2013 Solazyme Bunge JV Maximum USD ($)	Nov. 01, 2013 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company	Jan. 31, 2013 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company	Mar. 31, 2014 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company	Mar. 31, 2013 California Office Buildings	Mar. 31, 2014 California Office Buildings sqft	Apr. 01, 2011 Brazil Office Building	Mar. 31, 2014 Brazil Office Building USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 Brazil Office Building BRL	Mar. 31, 2014 Auto Lease Agreement USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 Auto Lease Agreement BRL	Mar. 31, 2014 Auto Lease Agreement Minimum	Mar. 31, 2014 Auto Lease Agreement Maximum
Commitment And Contingencies [Line Items]
Deferred rent asset	$ 2,100,000		$ 3,600,000
Deferred Rent Liability	200,000		300,000
Area of building leased																96,000
Lease expiration date															Feb. 01, 2015		Apr. 01, 2016
Term of lease																	five years
Beginning date of lease																	Apr. 01, 2011
Lease rent per month																		15,600	35,300
Lease cancellation penalty percentage of remaining lease value																						50.00%	80.00%
Remaining cancellable lease value																				400,000	900,000
Fees paid in form of shares for use and operation of Clinton Facility											423,278			770,761
Warrant granted to purchase shares of common stock									1,000,000			500,000
Additional warrants to be granted under extension of contract				500,000
Warrant exercise price per share									13.50			7.17
Warrant expiry date												2019-01-01
Rent expense	2,600,000	700,000											200,000
Non-cancelable purchase obligations	1,500,000
Maximum borrowing capacity					108,400,000	245,700,000
Percentage of loan guaranteed repayment							50.00%
Corporate Loan Guarantee								0		5,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding								10,000,000
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value								$ 5,000,000