We report a low cost, environmentally friendly nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) co-doped porous carbon nanowires derived from bacterial cellulose which acts as the efficient electrode materials for the supercapacitor. The as-prepared material exhibits a large specific capacitance of 258 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g and an excellent cycling stability of 30000 cycles. The excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of P and N doping in carbon nanowires and the unique three-dimensional network and porous structure. In addition, a symmetric supercapacitor has been fabricated by exploiting the as-prepared material as a positive electrode and negative electrode. The as-fabricated symmetric supercapacitor shows promising energy density of 5.4 Wh/kg at high power density of 200 W/kg, along with an excellent cycle stability of 87 % specific capacitance retention after 6000 cycles. The advanced specific capacitance and excellent cycle stability of the carbon nanowires imply that it could be a potential candidate in commercial applications of supercapacitors.