Nature of Business, Financial Condition and Basis of Presentation (Policies)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Nature of Business	Nature of Business. Gevo, Inc. (“Gevo” or the “Company,” which, unless otherwise indicated, refers to Gevo, Inc. and its subsidiaries) is a renewable chemicals and next generation biofuels company focused on the development and commercialization of alternatives to petroleum-based products based on isobutanol produced from renewable feedstocks. Gevo, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware on June 9, 2005. Gevo, Inc. formed Gevo Development, LLC (“Gevo Development”) in September 2009 to finance and develop biorefineries either through joint venture, licensing arrangements, tolling arrangements or direct acquisition (see Note 9). Gevo Development became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company in September 2010. Gevo Development purchased Agri-Energy, LLC (“Agri-Energy”) in September 2010. Through May 2012, Agri-Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gevo Development, was engaged in the business of producing and selling ethanol and related products produced at its plant located in Luverne, Minnesota (the “Agri-Energy Facility”). The Company commenced the retrofit of the Agri-Energy Facility in 2011 and commenced initial startup operations for the production of isobutanol at this facility in May 2012. In September 2012, the Company made the strategic decision to pause isobutanol production at the Agri-Energy Facility to focus on optimizing specific parts of the process to further enhance isobutanol production rates. In 2013, the Company modified the Agri-Energy Facility in order to increase the isobutanol production rate. In June 2013, the Company resumed the limited production of isobutanol, operating one fermenter and one Gevo Integrated Fermentation Technology^® (“GIFT^®”) separation system in order to (i) verify that the modifications had significantly reduced the previously identified infections, (ii) demonstrate that its biocatalyst performs in the one million liter fermenters at the Agri-Energy Facility, and (iii) confirm GIFT^® efficacy at commercial scale at the Agri-Energy Facility. In August 2013, the Company expanded production capacity at the Agri-Energy Facility by adding a second fermenter and second GIFT^® system to further verify its results with a second configuration of equipment. In October 2013, the Company began commissioning the Agri-Energy Facility on corn mash to test isobutanol production run rates and to optimize biocatalyst production, fermentation separation and water management systems. In March 2014, the Company decided to leverage the flexibility of its GIFT^® technology and further modify the Agri-Energy Facility which it believes will enable the simultaneous production of isobutanol and ethanol. In July 2014, the Company began more consistent co-production of isobutanol and ethanol at the Agri-Energy Facility, with one fermenter utilized for isobutanol production and three fermenters utilized for ethanol production. In line with the Company’s strategy to maximize asset utilization and site cash flows, the Company believes that this configuration of the plant should allow it to continue to optimize its isobutanol technology at a commercial scale, while taking advantage of the positive ethanol contribution margins currently available in the marketplace. At September 30, 2014, the Company continues to conduct research and development, business development, business and financial planning, establishing its facilities including retrofitting the Agri-Energy Facility, initial startup operations for isobutanol production at the Agri-Energy Facility and raising capital. Ultimately, the Company believes that the attainment of profitable operations is dependent upon future events, including completion of its development activities resulting in commercial production and sales of isobutanol or isobutanol-derived products and/or technology, obtaining adequate financing to complete its development activities, obtaining adequate financing to build out further isobutanol production capacity, gaining market acceptance and demand for its products and services, and attracting and retaining qualified personnel. The Company has primarily derived revenue from the sale of ethanol, distiller’s grains and other related products produced as part of the ethanol production process at the Agri-Energy Facility. The production of ethanol alone is not the Company’s intended business and its future strategy is expected to depend on its ability to produce and market isobutanol and products derived from isobutanol. Given that the production of ethanol alone is not the Company’s intended business, and the Company is only beginning to achieve more consistent production and revenue from the sale of isobutanol, the historical operating results of Agri-Energy may not be indicative of future operating results for Agri-Energy or Gevo.
Financial Condition	Financial Condition. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, the Company incurred a consolidated net loss of $0.9 million and $30.1 million, respectively, and had an accumulated deficit of $292.2 million. The Company’s cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2014 totaled $14.0 million which is primarily being used for the following: (i) operating activities and completion of the side-by-side configuration of the Agri-Energy Facility; (ii) operating activities at its corporate headquarters in Colorado, including research and development work; (iii) capital improvements primarily associated with its Agri-Energy Facility; (iv) costs associated with optimizing isobutanol production technology; (v) costs associated with the ongoing litigation with Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC (“Butamax”), a joint venture between British Petroleum (“BP”), E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (“DuPont”), and Dupont and BP Biofuels; and (vi) debt service obligations. The Company expects to incur future net losses as it continues to fund the development and commercialization of its product candidates. The Company’s transition to profitability is dependent upon, among other things, the successful development and commercialization of its product candidates and the achievement of a level of revenues adequate to support the Company’s cost structure. The Company may never achieve profitability or positive cash flows, and unless and until it does, the Company will continue to need to raise additional cash. Management intends to fund future operations through additional private and/or public offerings of debt or equity securities. In addition, the Company may seek additional capital through arrangements with strategic partners or from other sources, it may seek to restructure its debt and it will continue to address its cost structure. Notwithstanding, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to raise additional funds, or achieve or sustain profitability or positive cash flows from operations. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern and do not include adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. This basis of accounting contemplates the recovery of the Company’s assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. Based on the Company’s current operating plan, the Company believes that the current levels of cash will fund planned operations into 2015 without additional sources of cash. Despite the Company’s continued success in meeting isobutanol fermentation targets, producing isobutanol and ethanol simultaneously, and its progress toward achieving breakeven earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at the Agri-Energy Facility, the Company continues to face significant expenses related to its ongoing litigation with Butamax. While the United States District Court has temporarily stayed the litigation with Butamax involving certain patents, trials related to other patents were recently scheduled for August 2015 and April 2016 and the Company expects to incur significant costs preparing for and participating in these upcoming trials. The Company continues to believe that the Butamax complaints are without merit. However, if it is unable to raise the significant funds that will be required for it to continue to defend its freedom to operate, the Company could be forced to change its business strategy which may include one or more of the following: (i) terminating the research and development, manufacture, sale and use of products that include the subject intellectual property; (ii) conducting research and development and manufacturing any products that include the subject intellectual property outside of the United States; (iii) shifting its focus to the production of ethanol and/or the development of hydrocarbon products, including those that can be produced from ethanol; or (iv) pursuing strategic alternatives, including the monetization of some or all of the Company’s assets, in order to maximize stockholder value.
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation. The unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Company (which include the accounts of its wholly-owned subsidiaries Gevo Development and Agri-Energy) have been prepared, without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for complete financial statements. These statements reflect all normal and recurring adjustments which, in the opinion of management, are necessary to present fairly the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of the Company at September 30, 2014 and for all periods presented. The consolidated statements of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and consolidated statements of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. These statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included under the heading “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” in Part II, Item 8 of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 (the “Annual Report”). Significant accounting policies. The Company has elected the fair value option for certain long-term debt instruments that qualify for such treatment. See Note 7 for a detailed description of the accounting for the 2017 convertible notes that are accounted for in this manner. The Company also placed into service the Retrofit asset (as defined below) in July of 2014 and began depreciating the asset over a 20 year useful life.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements. In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASU 2014‑09”). The objective of ASU 2014-09 is to clarify the principles for recognizing revenue and to develop a common revenue standard for GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. ASU 2014‑09 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2014‑09. In June 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-10, Development Stage Entities (Topic 915): Elimination of Certain Financial Reporting Requirements, Including an Amendment to Variable Interest Entities Guidance in Topic 810, Consolidation (“ASU 2014-10”). The amendments in ASU 2014-10 remove all incremental financial reporting requirements from U.S. GAAP for development stage entities, including the removal of Topic 915, Development Stage Entities, from the FASB Accounting Standards Codification®. ASU 2014-10 is effective for the first annual period beginning after December 15, 2014. The revised consolidation standards are effective one year later, in annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted and the Company adopted ASU 2014-10 in the third quarter of 2014 which consisted principally of removing Inception to date information on the Company’s statements of operations, equity and cash flows as well as other inception to date disclosures in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.