Notes Payable - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		1 Months Ended					12 Months Ended					81 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Dec. 03, 2007	Dec. 21, 2012	Oct. 11, 2012	Nov. 07, 2007	Jul. 13, 2007	Jul. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2007	Oct. 31, 2007	Aug. 21, 2007	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2007	Dec. 31, 2012	Feb. 26, 2013	Mar. 28, 2012	Dec. 31, 2010 Fulton Project	Dec. 31, 2010 California Project	Aug. 31, 2010 Bluefire Fulton Renewable Energy Llc	Dec. 31, 2011 Us Department Of Agriculture	Dec. 31, 2010 Us Department Of Agriculture	Dec. 31, 2009 Us Department Of Agriculture	Dec. 31, 2012 Subsequent Event	Dec. 31, 2011 Subsequent Event	Dec. 31, 2010 Department Of Energy	Aug. 21, 2007 Class Warrants	Aug. 21, 2007 Class B Warrants	Aug. 21, 2007 Senior Secured Convertible Notes Payable	Dec. 03, 2007 Maximum Class Warrants	Dec. 03, 2007 Maximum Class B Warrants	Aug. 21, 2007 Warrants	Dec. 31, 2012 Warrants	Aug. 21, 2007 Convertible Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Convertible Notes	Dec. 31, 2007 Convertible Notes	Aug. 21, 2007 Convertible Notes Senior Secured Convertible Notes Payable	Jul. 13, 2007 Accredited Investors	Jul. 13, 2007 Chief Financial Officer
Short-term Debt [Line Items]
Convertible debt																																							$ 500,000	$ 25,000
Convertible note payable, interest rate				10.00%	10.00%													12.00%
Warrants exercise price	2.9				5.00		0.50				0.00		0.50			0.00	0.00								0						5.48	6.32
Expiry term of vested warrants					5 years
Debt conversion, converted instrument, warrants or options issued					200,000																									1,000,000
Fair value of warrants										3,500,000	990,367
Expected volatility	122.90%						112.60%			118.00%	113.00%
Risk-free interest rate	3.28%						1.10%			4.05%	4.94%
Annual dividend yield	0.00%						0.00%			0.00%	0.00%
Expected life (years)	4 years 8 months 19 days						3 years				5 years
Proceeds from convertible notes payable											395,500	0				2,895,500																	1,279,429	332,256	728,571	167,744
Amortization of debt discount											122,953	0			332,256	809,786
Fair market value of the conversion feature															332,000															1,679,000							167,744	728,000
Repayments of Convertible Debt				516,000
Repayment Of Convertibel Debt Interest Amount				16,000
Debt instrument, increase, accrued interest				800
Conversion of senior secured convertible notes payable										2,000,000	0	0				2,000,000									50,000
Debt conversion, converted instrument, rate																														8.00%
Common shares issued (in shares)																										235,465		500,000	500,000
Debt instrument, convertible, conversion price										$ 4.21
Debt conversion, original debt, amount										10,000,000
Percentage of discount on convertible promissory notes										100.00%
Amortization of Financing Costs and Discounts								312,000
Loss on extinguishment of debt								1,688,000			0	0				(2,818,370)
Debt conversion, converted instrument, shares issued																									1,116,676
Fair value assumptions market price per share	$ 3.26								$ 3.26
Debt issuance costs for rejected loan guarantees											0	309,834			207,000	583,634
Debt Issuance Cost												309,000	123,800	150,000								114,000	298,000	150,000
Loan Guarantee							250,000,000						250,000,000	58,000,000							250,000,000						250,000,000
Write off of deferred debt issuance cost											583,634								123,800	150,000							123,800
Convertible note issued		$ 32,500	$ 37,500			$ 63,500												$ 300,000							$ 32,500
Debt conversion, original debt, interest rate of debt		8.00%	0.08%			0.08%
Debt conversion, converted instrument, expiration or due date		Sep. 26, 2013	Jul. 15, 2013			May 02, 2013
Debt instrument convertible conversion price description		Conversion price is calculated by multiplying 58% (42% discount to market) by the average of the lowest three closing bid prices during the 10 days prior to the conversion date	Conversion price is calculated by multiplying 58% (42% discount to market) by the average of the lowest three closing bid prices during the 10 days prior to the conversion date			Conversion price is calculated by multiplying 58% (42% discount to market) by the average of the lowest three closing bid prices during the 10 days prior to the conversion date