Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended						0 Months Ended					1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended				6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2013 USD ($)	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	Jun. 30, 2014 Solazyme Bunge JV USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 Solazyme Bunge JV USD ($)	May 31, 2011 Solazyme Bunge JV	Dec. 18, 2013 Solazyme Bunge JV Maximum USD ($)	Nov. 01, 2013 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company	Jan. 31, 2013 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company	Jun. 30, 2014 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company	Jun. 30, 2014 California Office Buildings sqft property	Apr. 01, 2011 Brazil Office Building	Jun. 30, 2014 Brazil Office Building USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 Brazil Office Building BRL	Jun. 30, 2014 Auto Lease Agreement USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 Auto Lease Agreement BRL	Jun. 30, 2014 Auto Lease Agreement Minimum	Jun. 30, 2014 Auto Lease Agreement Maximum	Jul. 31, 2014 Subsequent Event California Office Buildings USD ($) sqft
Commitment And Contingencies [Line Items]
Deferred rent asset	$ 600,000		$ 600,000		$ 3,600,000
Deferred rent liability	200,000		200,000		300,000
Area of building leased																			96,000								106,000
Number of buildings leased																			2
Lease expiration date																			Feb. 01, 2015	Apr. 01, 2016							Jan. 31, 2018
Amount of outstanding letters of credit																											700,000
Lease incentive receivable																											1,600,000
Additional area of real estate property																											10,000
Term of lease																				five years
Beginning date of lease																				Apr. 01, 2011							Feb. 01, 2015
Lease rent per month																					16,000	35,300
Lease cancellation penalty percentage of remaining lease value																									50.00%	80.00%
Remaining cancellable lease value																							400,000	800,000
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	800,000	5,100,000	1,500,000												200,000	300,000
Non-cancelable purchase obligations	1,500,000		1,500,000
Maximum borrowing capacity							111,400,000	245,700,000
Percentage of loan guaranteed repayment									50.00%
Loan guarantee										0			5,000,000
Outstanding balance under the credit facility											10,000,000
Carrying value of guarantee											$ 5,000,000