Secured Debt and Convertible Notes - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended						9 Months Ended				1 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended					1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	May 31, 2014	Jul. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2014 Warrant	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014 Warrant	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Jan. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Jun. 30, 2014 First Installment	Sep. 30, 2014 Term Loans	Dec. 31, 2013 Term Loans	Sep. 30, 2014 Term Loans Interest Payable In Cash	Sep. 30, 2014 Term Loans Interest Payable In Kind	Jun. 30, 2014 Term Loans First Installment	Aug. 31, 2010 Gevo Loan	Oct. 31, 2011 Amended Agri Energy Loan Agreement	Sep. 30, 2014 Amended Agri Energy Loan Agreement First Installment	Sep. 30, 2014 Amended Agri Energy Loan Agreement Final Installment	May 31, 2014 Convertible 2017 Notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Convertible 2017 Notes	Jun. 30, 2014 Convertible 2017 Notes	Dec. 31, 2013 Convertible 2017 Notes	Sep. 30, 2014 Convertible 2017 Notes Term Loans	Sep. 30, 2014 Convertible 2017 Notes Term Loans	Jul. 31, 2012 2022 Notes	Sep. 30, 2014 2022 Notes	Sep. 30, 2013 2022 Notes	Sep. 30, 2014 2022 Notes	Sep. 30, 2013 2022 Notes	Dec. 31, 2013 2022 Notes	Sep. 30, 2014 2022 Notes Coupon Make-Whole Payments	Sep. 30, 2014 2022 Notes Make-Whole Fundamental Change Maximum	Sep. 30, 2014 2022 Notes Fundamental Change	Sep. 30, 2014 2022 Notes Provisional Redemption	Dec. 31, 2013 Restructure Period Amended Agri Energy Loan Agreement	May 31, 2014 Loan Agreement	Dec. 31, 2013 Loan Agreement	May 31, 2014 Loan Agreement Term Loans	May 31, 2014 Loan Agreement Term Loans First Installment	Aug. 31, 2010 Loan Agreement Original Agri-Energy Loan Agreement	Sep. 30, 2014 May 2014 Amendments
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument maturity date																									Mar. 15, 2017				Jul. 01, 2022								Mar. 15, 2017					May 31, 2017
Line of credit, maximum borrowing capacity																																							$ 31,100,000
Line of Credit Facility, Current Borrowing Capacity																																								22,800,000
Secured debt, discount																																								1,600,000
Debt issuance cost			581,000		3,766,000																					1,400,000														1,500,000
Convertible senior secured note, percentage of stock price																				10.00%											90.00%
Outstanding principal amount of term loan										25,900,000						5,000,000																									12,500,000
Accrued paid in kind interest											0				200,000						201,000			200,000	200,000
Conversion Price																						$ 1.1584					$ 5.69		$ 5.69
Debt Conversion, Description																					The 2017 Notes have a conversion price (the “Conversion Price”) equal to $1.1584 per share or .8663 shares per $1 principal amount of 2017 Notes.
Conversion Rate																					0.8663				863.3				175.6697				202.0202
Restricted deposits			2,611,000		2,611,000
Debt instrument, interest rate								11.00%			15.00%		5.00%	10.00%												7.50%
Common stock, shares authorized			250,000,000		250,000,000		250,000,000														17,500,000
Debt instrument, face amount																								26,100,000	26,100,000
Estimated fair value of principal amount			25,564,000		25,564,000						0	0									26,108,000		0	25,564,000	25,564,000		18,900,000		18,900,000		15,900,000
Interest expense			2,017,000	1,733,000	6,227,000	7,321,000																		600,000	900,000		500,000	500,000	1,500,000	1,800,000
Proceeds from 2022 notes																										5,400,000
End-of-term payment as percentage of amount borrowed		8.00%
Proceeds from issuance of common stock and common stock units					18,000,000																																	5,100,000
Loan and security agreement outstanding principal amount							5,100,000
Debt instrument, additional term loan																	15,000,000
Debt Instrument, repurchase amount			15,000,000		15,000,000			5,000,000	10,000,000
Number of warrants outstanding			3		3
Number of shares of common stock exercisable for warrants			388,411		388,411
Exercise price of common stock			$ 1.18		$ 1.18
Percentage of convertible senior notes embedded derivatives																										7.50%										13.00%
Percentage of payment on principal amount and interest due																		50.00%	50.00%
Aggregate principal amount on sale of convertible notes																										45,000,000
Proceeds from issuance of 2017 Notes, net					25,907,000																					40,900,000
Non-cash interest expense					6,374,000	3,747,000																					700,000	500,000	2,000,000	2,800,000
Long term debt interest rate																													40.00%
Amortization period of debt discount																													5 years
Amortization period of debt issuance cost																													5 years
2022 notes, conversion date																										Jul. 01, 2017			Jul. 01, 2017
Debt instrument, convertible, conversion price																											1,000		1,000
Discount rate used in computation of interest payment																															2.00%
Number of trading days for valuation																															10 days
Conversion of convertible debt to common stock																													18,100,000			4,900,000
Secured debt																															26,900,000											900,000
Debt Conversion, Converted Instrument, Shares Issued																													3,179,608			2,957,775
Percentage repurchase price																																		100.00%
Number of trading days required for redemption																																			20 or more trading days
Excess to percentage of conversion price																																			150.00%
Number of consecutive trading days required for redemption																																			30 days
Debt instrument, periodic payment, principal	$ 9,600,000
Long term borrowing interest rate			9.00%		9.00%